A Different Genealogy
by Natarii-loves-Chocolate-milk
Summary: When Kakashi woke up that morning he hadn't really expected Sasuke to awaken his Sharingan, let alone Naruto! It was simply illogical! There was no way Naruto could be related to the Uchiha Clan… SasuNaru, FemNaru, Incest, ItaIno, Slight ShikaNaru.
1. Act I: This Girl Is Whacko

_**I'm too lazy to draw a manga, let alone Naruto. Kishi does a good job without my meddling, so let him keep doing it I say; why ruin a good thing?**_

_**WARNING: I'm only putting this in once, so read. There will be bad language in this story. There will also be eventual incest, and it will be of the fairly close kind. If you don't like that then I suggest you don't read. **_

_**There will probably be violence and all the other stuff that come with your average Naruto Fanfic (its about ninjas, there will be violence. End of story). And if you don't like femNaru stories, I suggest you read the summary again and if you still cant see 'FemNaru', then go get your eyes checked.**_

_**You have been warned. That's it, no more warnings. If you start complaining about my language choice after three chapters you can go fuck a dinosaur.**_

_**See? It's starting already...**_

* * *

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY **

* * *

**ACT I: SCENE I  
~ THIS GIRL IS WHACKO ~**

* * *

"All right, who can tell give me an example of a bloodline limit?"

More than half the hands in the class shot up to answer the question he had asked, and Kotesu sighed.

"A bloodline that doesn't come from Konoha" he clarified.

All of the hands that had previously been waving in the air dropped; Well, at least they knew the ones in their own village... That was miles better than last year's batch of fresh meat. Kotetsu hoped Izumo was doing better with the upper class. No doubt Hana's girls were trouncing both their classes…

Seeing the terrified looks on the boy's faces he began to sweat. Why did he sign up for this again? Oh yes, Izumo lost a bet with Shikaku - really, who in their right mind challenged a Nara to a game of Shogi, and made a bet that they would actually _win? _Izumo was an idiot! He had told him not to move his king, and now they were stuck teaching! He wanted to go on missions, damn it!

"Don't worry, all right?"

he tried to reassure the group of seven-year-olds with a relaxed grin before continuing; it seemed to work on some of them, much to his relief. He really wasn't good with kids at the best of times.

"One example is the Ice Nature found in-"

He was interrupted by a brief knock at the door before Hana entered with the Hokage. He gawped for a moment before hurrying to the door and stepping outside with the two.

Sasuke Uchiha, along with his entire class, strained his ears and leaned over his desk in an attempt to hear what was being said outside. They couldn't really see much thanks to the panelling of the door, but he could make out three large silhouettes and one smaller one. He knew who the larger ones belonged to but not the smaller one.

The small one cried something gleefully and jumped onto the silhouetted belonging to Hana, and then the Hokage. He was stunned that someone had the gall to do that. You didn't just run up and randomly hug the village leader. This guy was already an idiot in Sasuke's mind. A brave one, but still an idiot.

"Work hard kiddo! I would have killed for this when I was in the academy…"

Kiba's sister was easily heard before she and the Hokage disappeared. There was a tense atmosphere when Kotetsu-Sensei re-entered the room. It quickly turned to bafflement when they caught sight of his companion. Sasuke realised this was the small silhouette.

She was a small girl, perhaps a bit younger than he was but not by much, and had shoulder-length, wild-looking blonde hair fastened in haphazard pigtails. He could just make out bright blue eyes and faint scratches on her cheeks. She wore a baggy black t-shirt, orange shorts, and black fingerless battle gloves with metal on them, like Itachi's did..

Sasuke deemed this as odd. As far as he knew, girls were supposed to have tidy hair and wear skirts; not shorts.

"All right I know this is a bit unorthodox, but this is your new classmate boys, be nice okay?"

Sasuke thought their instructor must be ill; what idiot would let a girl into the boys class? there was no way she would keep up - the Girls were given Kunoichi classes for a reason. In his mind, the prospect of being nice was laughable, and he could tell that some of his classmates were having similar thoughts. Apparently the girl did too, for she snorted rather loudly.

"I don't care if they're nice or not Bandage-Face. As long as there's no damn… _flower arranging…_"

She shuddered at the mere thought of such an activity, and sasuke found his interest spiking; he'd been under the impression that the girls liked those weird classes. This one was odd; while he admitted interest however, he still didnt like her. the only free seat was beside him, and there was no doubt that she would start to fawn all over him.

"…as long as there none of that stuff I'll be perfectly fine"

She finished scratching the inside of her ear with one finger. Sasuke stared at her, taken aback by the culture shock. Even Kiba, whose mother and sister were far from the usual female ninja, was surprised. He was beginning to revise his opinions on her at first impression; maybe she wouldn't fawn over him after all, or was that too much to hope for?

"My name's Kot-" Kotetsu attempted to correct her.  
"Bandage-Face" she informed him stubbornly.  
"Kotet-"  
"Bandage-Face!"

Even Sasuke snorted with laughter. Kotetsu decided to give up; if she called Hana _'Dog-Lady'_ and the Hokage _'Old Geezer'_ he sincerely doubted he was going to escape without some sort of new nick-name.

"As I was saying, this is your new classmate. She's been skipped a grade so do try to be a little bit less rambunctious with her, she's a year younger than you are. She didn't really… mix well with the other girls so she'll be joining us once a day instead of the girls-"

"Bandage-Face, can I introduce myself or are you going to do it for me?" she interrupted.

Kotetsu ignored the snickers and nodded sheepishly. She beamed at him and then Sasuke (along the rest of the class) was given another shock. How could this girl be so… not-girl-like, but still look like… like that?! It defied all logic!

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm six! Nice to meet 'cha!" she grinned loudly.

There was silence for a few moments before Kiba broke out into laughter.

"F-Fishcake? Your name's Fishcake?!" he choked out.

A few of the other boys in the class snickered. They were the stupid ones. Sasuke had picked up on the slightly darker expression on her face and thought better of it. She glowered at Kiba and the boys who sat snickering with him. Before Kotetsu could stop her she had jumped from bench to bench to land directly in front of Kiba.

* * *

Hana stopped walking momentarily and slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Shit! I forgot to warn him about the name thing!" she yelled to herself.

She considered going back for a few moments before tossing the idea aside.

"If they can't cope with Naruto, then the future male ninja of Konoha will be a source of eternal embarrassment! They can find out the hard way!" she said to herself, ignoring the worried look the Hokage was giving her.

* * *

Kiba meanwhile was about to be given some negative reinforcement for calling Naruto _'Fishcake'_. Naruto did not pause at all after jumping across several desks, and smashed her small fabric and metal covered fist to Kiba's nose. The boy yelped in pain, uncaring of the tears that sprang to his eyes; that punch bloody hurt!

There was a horrified silence throughout the classroom. Not even the faint buzzing of Shino's bugs could be heard. Shikamaru, who had been half interested, half asleep, was now fully awake.

'_Never piss this girl off. She's almost as scary as mum' _he resolved, giving Kiba a pitying glance.

"Who the hell are you calling Fishcake, Flea-Bag? My name means Maelstrom! Not Fishcake, Maelstrom! Got it?"

Naruto rared the words directly into his ear, an Kiba nodded vigorously, trying to stem the blood that poured from his nose. Kotetsu gave him a pitying look and mouthed _'nurses office'_. Kiba wasted no time and hurried out of the room. Sasuke stared at Naruto as she smiled at Kotetsu and asked him where her seat was, not failing to use his new name.

"You can sit next to Sasuke, Naruto. Sasuke! Put your hand up!"

Sasuke did as instructed, albeit somewhat warily. Despite his idiotic personality, Kiba was no pushover. He had just had his nose apparently broken by a girl a year younger than they were. Sasuke saw no harm in being a little cautions; he made a particularly noticeable mental not to never call her Fishcake even for a joke. It was too much of a health-risk.

The girl, still standing on Kiba's bench, looked over to him and hopped across the benches and plopped down into the seat beside him. She grinned at him before turning to ask Kotetsu if she could get a textbook till she could buy her own.

This was too strange for Sasuke; much as he hated it, he was used to girls doing their utmost to coax him into talking or even looking at them. Naruto did not do this, and refreshing as it was, Sasuke found this odd. In his later life, he would deem this the moment he fell for the girl.

That was speaking in adult terms, in a future tense however; at the moment, all Sasuke's 7-year-old mind could think of to explain this odd feeling was: _'this girl is whacko'_

"All right, back to bloodlines. I've given you one already, can anyone think of any others?" Kotetsu asked hopefully.

There was no need to regain order or discipline. As far as he was concerned, Naruto had been provoked by Kiba, and had probably given the class a desperately needed wake up call. Whilst scaring the stuffing out of them. There was no answer for several minuets until Naruto gave a frustrated sight and opened her moth once more.

"Lava Nature and the Rin'nengan, though the Rin'nengan is kinda iffy. It might not be real" Naruto stated.

The boys stared at her.

"What? The Old-Geezer has good books in his office!"

* * *

Sasuke saw his brother standing by the gates and hurried over to meet him.

"Itachi! You don't have work?" he asked.

It wasn't often his brother met him at school; not that he needed to be picked upon a regular basis any more, but even his father occasionally came by. For Itachi to meet him was a rare treat.

"I requested the week off so we can do a proper offering this year" he explained.

Sasuke nodded in understanding; every year they would make an offering with their father to their mother. Sasuke didn't remember her much, he'd only been one year old when she died, but he remembered to be a kind, loving person. He had been so distracted by the event in class that day that he had, momentarily, completely forgotten about it.

As they walked through the streets back to the compound, the conversation discussed his day at the academy and inevitably turned to Naruto.

"There's a weird girl in the boys class now, so I completely forgot. She's whacko! She broke Kiba's nose because he called her fishcake! She called Kotetsu _'Bandage-Face'_ and the Hokage _'Old-geezer'_!" he informed his brother.

He was doing all he could to stress how not-girl-like (and therefore _'whacko'_) she was. Itachi raised an eyebrow a fraction, which indicated his surprise to Sasuke.

"You aren't talking about Naruto Uzumaki are you?" he asked.

Sasuke eyes widened.  
"You know her? How?"

he pushed aside the garden gate; Itachi took the gate from him and passed through himself, closing it behind him before joining sasuke on the walk up to their front door

"Father sponsors her" he answered.

Sasuke felt confused; sponsor?

"Konoha doesn't have a lot of orphans, about on hundred in the whole village, so they are all sent into ninja schooling. High ranking ninja sponsor them until they earn Chunin rank or turn eighteen; whichever comes first. Father sponsors Naruto, though I've only met her a few times. It was when you were younger so you probably don't remember her" he clarified.

Sasuke gawped at him; he was so shocked he almost forgot to take off his shoes before entering the house.

"Father did that?!" he asked in complete surprise.

Had Itachi not been the one who told him, he would never have believed such a thing possible. He sat down at the table at Itachi's order. His older brother started to trundle awkwardly about the kitchen intent on making them a sandwich. Despite his skills as a ninja, his skills as a chef were very limited.

"You are completely shocked" Itachi noted, smiling.  
"B-But father isn't, I mean…" he couldn't find the appropriate words to explain his thoughts.

"Why would he do that?" he asked. It was as close as he could get to what he really wanted to say. Itachi gave a soft laugh as he laid a tomato sandwich in front of his younger sibling and helping himself to left-over rice balls.

"I was surprised when I first found out too, but he seems to genuinely worry about her as much as you or me, odd as it seems"

Itachi took a bite from one of the rice balls. Sasuke hurried cleared his own mouth before asking another question.

"Why? Why did he sponsor her anyway?"

He was still finding it difficult to understand his father's actions. There was a pause before Itachi answered in a voice that told Sasuke he understood their father as much as he did.

"I have absolutely no idea Sasuke. None at all"

After this new information was revealed, Sasuke changed his opinion of Naruto from _'whacko'_ to _'really whacko'_

* * *

"You're so lucky Naruto! You get to join the boys' class!" Ino wailed as they walked back from the academy.

Ino had also been skipped ahead, but much to her discontent she was stuck in the girls' class with the flower arranging. Not that she minded this, but Naruto got see Sasuke as much as she wanted!

Not to mention the boy's class just got extra training; she did flower arranging everyday in the shop, she'd rather be in the boys' class. In fact, she had the same opinions her friend held.

It was not that Naruto was bad at flower arranging (she grew up helping Ino in her family's shop so it was impossible for her to be terrible), it was just she was considerably more boisterous than the other girls, and hated the class with a passion.

After turning a gorse bush into a few throwing stars and using her flower arrangements for target practice, Hana had finally decided the girls' additional education was not for Naruto.

"I know, but I thought the boys would be smarter since they get extra training, but Kiba can be _really_ stupid sometimes! Even Sasuke isn't all that smart, and he's supposed to be the top of our class! They have no common sense!"

Naruto kicked a stone in irritation; It had been a week since she moved into the second year class with Ino, and they boys' apparent idiocy despite the extra help baffled her.

"Whaaat? Really? That's impossible!" Ino asked, clearly shocked to her core.  
"His solution to a hostage situation was killing the hostage taker Ino! That's it! No danger-analysis or nothing!"  
"What? are you sure?" Ino asked, faltering slightly.  
"You know I sit next to him Ino. It was impossible _not_ to hear him!"

Ino could not think of anything to say to this and decided it would be better for her pride to drop the subject. Naruto was very stubborn and refused to loose in an argument. She was very much the same, and if they started arguing there would be no end to it due to stubbornness. Instead she turned the conversation to Naruto's mother.

"Do you want me to come with you to visit your mum? I don't have work today!"

Actually, she had specifically requested - begged her father on hands and knees - time off for this exact purpose. Naruto sometimes got depressed when she visited her mother, and needed someone to cheer her up afterwards. Besides, you shouldn't visit graveyards by yourself.

Naruto looked shocked for a moment before breaking into an even wider smile.  
"Really? That'd be awesome!"

She squealed a very un-Naruto-like squeal. It showed just how grateful she was for the offer; Naruto would only squeal when she was ecstatically happy. The walk to the cemetery was not a long one. They spoke to kind old priest and he guided them to the grave site of Kushina Uzumaki - the graveyard was huge, and they always got lost trying to find the grave.

Ino actually knew the route fairly well by now, but the priest was one of a small number that was nice to Naruto and she knew her friend enjoyed talking with him. Naruto loved her friends, but she was a social creature, and loved talking with other people too.

For some reason though, everyone seemed to glare at her, making it near impossible. Ino wasn't about to deny her a rare snitch of conversation from someone she didn't see on a regular basis.

Naruto lit the incense and laid down her offering (Miso Ramen) before clapping her hands together and closing her eyes in prayer, Ino copying her actions. Naruto was in the midst of telling her mother about how much of an idiot Kiba was when she heard a familiar voice.

"Naruto? Is that you?" she looked up from her prayer and saw Mr. Perma-Frown standing some distance away with Sasuke and some other guy who looked familiar but she couldn't quite remember.

"Perma-Frown? What are you doing here? And why is Duck-Butt-Head with you? You know him?" she asked, running up to the man.

She had only met him a few times, and she could barley remember most of them. She just knew this was the guy who took care of her bills and stuff till she could do it herself; Ino trotted over curiously.

She recognised Naruto's nick-name for her benefactor and was curious to see what he was like. Sure Sasuke was there, but if what Naruto said was true she was probably being a bit over zealous with her admiration. Either way, Naruto was more important than Sasuke any day.

"Visiting my wife" he stated plainly.

Ino gave him a deadpan stare. No wonder Naruto called him Perma-Frown, was his face glued like that or something?  
Had he smiled? Like, ever?

"I've never seen you here before, who are you visiting?" he asked curiously.

Ino glanced at the two boys standing with him, eavesdropping with apparent eagerness. She recognised Sasuke without a second thought, but not the other one. They looked kind of the same. He caught her staring and she blushed, and turned back to Naruto.

"My mum! She's over there!" Naruto pointed to the grave.  
Fugaku gave a nod of understanding, or approval, Ino wasn't quite sure which.

"Why is there ramen on it?" Sasuke asked bluntly.  
Itachi smacked him on the back of the head.

"That's my offering! She says ramen reminded her of my dad - I don't know who he is, but I always give her ramen when I visit"

Naruto seemed to be completely unaffected by Sasuke's bluntness.

"Eh? But it's ramen! You can't give people ramen as an offering!"

Naruto's face faltered slightly. Fugaku was about to reprimand him but Ino got there first. She punched his head where Itachi had previously slapped him.

"Who says it isn't? The priest said it was all right, so who says Naruto can't use ramen Duck-Butt-Head?!" she yelled, Naruto's nickname for him slipping out.

Sasuke stared at her in shock, though that was to be expected as Ino had been a member of his fan club not two hours ago. Itachi seemed to be amused; he had a small smirk on his face. Ino caught this and glared at him before sticking her tongue out and pulling down one of her eyelids.

He snickered at the action, drawing a raised eyebrow from Fugaku.

"I didn't mean, it… well…"

Sasuke fumbled as he searched for the meaning he was trying to explin, face red with embarrassment. After some time, he looked to his father, eyes pleading for help.

"I think what Sasuke is trying to say is that he didn't mean to offend you, he just considered ramen to be an unusual choice for an offering" Fugaku clarified.

Sasuke nodded vehemently. Naruto looked at Ino; she was busy trying to poke the older boy's arm in an apparently sensitive spot. He seemed to be amused by her efforts. Seeing she had a chance to talk to Mr. Perma-Frown without her bodyguard, she asked a question yet to be answered again

"Perma-Frown, how'd you know Duck-Butt-Head?" Perma-Frown looked as surprised as he could look in her experience."Sasuke? He's my son."

Naruto's jaw dropped open.

"That's his brother, Itachi."

He nodded towards Itachi, who was preventing Ino form hitting him by placing a hand to her forehead. Seeing a good opportunity for Sasuke to get to know his ward, he decided to be sneaky.

"I have to go speak with the priest, do you mind if Sasuke and Itachi stay here?" he asked.

Naruto, mouth still agape, shook her head. He thanked her and briskly walked away towards the priest's hut. Naruto and Sasuke were left with an awkward atmosphere, on only broken by Ino's frustrated yells and an occasional chuckle from Itachi.

"You're visiting your mum too?" Sasuke asked, genuinely curious. Naruto nodded she seemed distracted for a while before she brightened up; she grabbed his arm and dragged him back towards the grave.

"You can say hi! Just me, Ino and the Old-Geezer visiting is boring!" she proclaimed loudly.

Sasuke stared at her.  
"But I don't know her, I don't even know what she looks like!" he objected.

Naruto snorted.  
"Pft. So? Who cares? Mum won't!" she said, shoving a stick of incense into his hand.

Sasuke decided it would be easier to just do as instructed. He lit the stick of incense and placed it in the holder and clapped his hands together. Before closing his eyes however, he turned to Naruto.

"At least tell me what she looks like, its weird praying for someone I never met…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as she clapped her own hands together again, and surprisingly, a frown decorated her face.

"I don't really know..."

Sasuke was stunned by her confession; his mother had died when he was one year old, but he could remeber a few things; feelings mostly, but he had a few concrete images of her face stored away. The smell of her hair was a particularly strong image for some reason.

"The Old Geezer says she had red hair, and hated girly stuff like me, but... But when I think of her, I get the feeling she didn't have red hair. I think it was brown or something else really dark" Naruto contined.

She closed her eyes, presumably in concentration and made a disgruntled face before opening them once again. She rubbed a hand to her forhead and truned back to her prayers instead.

"I just think of mum and leave it at that, or my head gets all weird and I get a headache from thinking about it all so much."

Sasuke noticed the less cheery tone of voice. It didn't sound right on her for some reason. She should be cheery, he decided, and made moves to distract her from the headache-inducing thoughts.

"Idiot, it's because your brain is slow"  
"Is not Duck-Butt-Head!"  
"Idiot"

When Fugaku returned from his supposed visit with the priest, he allowed himself a small smile at the sight that greeted him. Naruto had somehow dragged Sasuke into prayers for Kushina.

Even Itachi seemed to have lightened up for once (the boy was too much like him for his own good sometimes) and was involved in a game of Jan-ken with the blonde girl. He was certain she was one of Inochi's twins. With that ponytail and those eyes, she looked very Yamanaka-like.

Itachi caught his momentary show of emotion and his mouth parted slightly, the Itachi equivalent of jaw-dropping, before narrowing his eyes. Fugaku sighed. It was just like Itachi to realise there was more to Naruto to meet the eye. Unfortunately for Itachi, that information would never be known to him unless he became clan head all of a sudden.

Fugaku would take Naruto's history to his grave, and he had no plans to die in the near future. Itachi would only find out after his death, and only then. As for Sasuke, it would be better if he never knew at all, but Fugaku was not naïve. Keeping secrets was hard in a ninja village, and the bigger the secret the easier it was to expose.

"Ah! Perma-Frown's back!" Naruto yelled, pointing to Fugaku.

He walked over to the small group easily avoiding Itachi's suspicious gaze.

"It's been good to see you Naruto, but I'm afraid we must be going. These two eat more than you would expect." he informed her, face carefully blank. Naruto pouted, but nodded.

"Try to eat something other than ramen, you'll never get taller if you don't eat right"

Naruto avoided his gaze pointedly, very interested in one of the flowers left behind on a nearby grave. Sasuke snickered and Naruto glared at him before stamping on his foot.

"Don't laugh at ramen! Ramen is awesome!"

"Tomatoes are way better…" Sasuke huffed, leaning to the side to keep the weight of his now injured foot.

Naruto's eyes widened in suprise.  
"Eh? You like tomatoes too?"

Sasuke nodded - he did not show it, but he was just as pleased with the revelation.

"Salt or sugar?" she asked.  
"Sugar…" Sasuke replied, equally surprised. Naruto frowned.  
"Nuh uh! Salt is waaay better Duck-Butt-Head!"  
"Sugar!"  
"Salt!"

A warning look from Fugaku stopped the fight before it got too far out of hand. Ino snickered and Itachi smirked. Ino punched him in the stomach for laughing at her friend, ignoring her own laughter at Sasuke.

"Then, till we meet again Naruto" Fugaku nodded his head slightly.

There was a small pause on his part before he turned towards the grave and did the same. Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly and Sasuke's widened.

"Bye Perma-Frown! Man-Lady! See you tomorrow Duck-Butt-Head!" Naruto yelled, waving as they walked away.  
Itachi spluttered at the nickname he had been given in time with hysterical laughter from Ino and Sasuke.

"C'mon Naruto, lets go get something to eat from Choji's place!" Ino pulled at her friends arm. "I'm hungry!" Naruto smiled and let herself be dragged out of the cemetery, waving goodbye to the priest as they went.

After that day, Naruto and Sasuke considered themselves as slightly more than just passing acquaintances.

* * *

Three years later, and Naruto had progressed through the academy well. She was now nine years old, and had developed close friendships with several of her classmates, though she was closer to Ino and Sasuke than she was the others. They knew her best.

She was in her second to last year of classes, Izumo's - _'Bandana-Head'_ - class. She still wore her unflattering baggy black t-shirt, and orange shorts. She still attended the boy's extra theory and workout classes instead of the stupid class the other girls were forced to attend. Poor unfortunate souls.

A collective groan ran throughout the classroom as Plaster-Face handed out the test sheets. Ino was going completely loopy since it was a pop test, and she hadn't done any form of studying for the past week.

She was bullying Shikamaru into giving her a brief run-down on what they had covered during the last month or so. Naruto hoped that she would do as well as she had the last two times. She'd come second twice in a row! It was unbelievably good luck and she hoped this string of good luck would continue.

Despite this, she was slightly worried. She barley read over her books, preferring to practice with her physical arts or weapons, After all, they were far more useful in despatching an enemy than knowing who proposed what in the Foreign Amnesty Treaty, but she still remembered what she saw in those books word for word.

At first she passed it off as just understanding what they were talking about for once, but after reading them again, she found that was not the case. These books made no sense! She barley understood what half of these treaties were for, but she found herself pouring the answers out when asked vocally or otherwise.

Even more disturbing, after seeing a fight breaking out at Ichiraku's earlier that day, she just had to think about it and it popped into her head with fearsome clarity. That was not something she wanted to remember, but she did. All this led her to believe this was something weird. Naruto hated weird.

Despite this, she still wanted to do her best in the test. She would not loose out to all those other sorry excuses for female ninja who stalked Duck-Butt-Head all day, gushing about Glasses-Lady's adorable flower arrangements. Ugh. Bleargh. No way was she going to loose out to them!

Thank god Ino wasn't one of them! She would have had to punch her some sense into her head, and she didn't really want to punch Ino. She'd get mad, and Ino was kind of scary when she was mad.

She picked up her pencil and stared at the first question on the paper, determination in her eyes.

_Minato Namikaze, before election as Fourth Hokage, was offered two different positions of importance in the Leaf government system. State these positions ad give two reasons for each of your answers. You must include dates and full names and ranks of any other ninja mentioned in your answer._

The answers were already there by the time she finished reading the question. She didn't feel too guilty either, since the reign of the Fourth Hokage was one of the few subjects in the class on Konoha history she enjoyed (and thus, fully understood). Strange memory alterations aside for the time being, she picked put the pencil to paper and scribbled furiously.

* * *

"Again?!"

Sasuke stared at the list of student rankings that had just peen posted on the class notice board. Once again, Naruto had somehow managed to gain almost the same marks as him: she was one mark off of a tie for first place! This was the third time already!

Since when did Naruto get so smart? He knew she was smarter than most of the boys in the class, especially in the extra lessons she had joined instead of the girls' classes, but an almost tying for first place three times in a row? That was just weird! Naruto wasn't _that_ smart!

"Move out of the way Duck-Butt-Head! You're blocking the view!"

Naruto pushed him aside roughly so as to gain a better look at the results. This, coupled with her ever-so-complimentary nickname, gained her a large number of glares from many of the other girls. Naruto didn't even notice. Sasuke twitched; how could she _not_ notice all those glares?

"You did it again?! What super-study method are you using? Tell me! I'll never get his attention if I'm not smart!"

Ino was just as shocked as he was, but the frustration in her voice was directed somewhere else entirely. Sasuke pitied the poor soul she'd set her eyes on since she had decided he was no longer worthy of her attention.

"I just read what Dolphin and Bandage-Face tells us to! I dunno how I'm remembering all of it, let alone how I keep getting the same marks as Duck-Butt-Head! I keep telling you Ino! And why are you complaining? You got second place!"

Ino frowned, and Sasuke watched them traipse to the back of the room and plonk down in their usual seats.

"Maybe you have some freaky bloodline that lets you remember stuff!"

Ino seemed determined to come up with an explanation for this strange behaviour, much to sasuke's interest, but all Naruto did was give Ino an exasperated look.

"Ino! My mum didn't have a bloodline! You already know that!"  
"Yeah, but what about your dad?"  
"I don't know who he is! Mum never said!"  
"Exactly! He might have had one!"

"That's impossible Ino. The old-geezer would tell me if I had a bloodline!"

Ino huffed but could think of no reply to that. She looked like she was about to say something else, but they were interrupted by Iruka announcing the start of the class. More interested in the technicalities of assassination, Sasuke paid no heed to the conversation and it was soon forgotten.

* * *

The rain poured, but Naruto could care less about the liquid that rendered her clothes little more than sodden fabric. She sat on the protective barrier of Konoha Bridge, watching as thunder crashed and lightning sparked throughout the sky, the warm feeling of summer rain penetrating through to her skin. The humidity that had caused the storm was barley noticeable to her, for she had other concerns.

This sudden memory improvement for example. She watched as lightning blazed, setting the sky aflame with white light, but this was not unnerved her so much about this storm. What had the blonde girl so on edge was that she could remember every pattern painted by the electricity that the atmosphere had discharged on Konoha.

She wasn't even trying to remember it! All she had to do was think, and Bang! There it was, clearly envisioned in her mind. Every detail. She could even remember the shadows the building created by the glow created by the storm. Thunder roared throughout the area and Naruto gripped the wood of the barrier with her soaked hands.

Her legs that had been previously been dangling over the edge of the railing were pulled up to her chest and she buried her face in her knees. She couldn't actually remember the sound, but it was like a red flag popped up every so often when she visualised the storm. A red flag with _'here there be thunder!'_ printed on it in unmistakable bold print.

This scared her more than she cared to admit. Ino passed it off as a genetic trait but Naruto was nowhere near as confident with her theory. What kind of genetic inheritance could account for this level of memory? Had her mother been still been alive, she would have asked her and been given a very clear, sensible answer; whether it was one she wanted to hear or not.

But her mother was not here, and she had very few adults she could turn to for support. The villagers avoided her as much as possible (unless they were trying to yell at her for her pranks), and the adults she had questioned about her sudden increase in recollective ability were as baffled as she.

The Old-Geezer had passed it of a photographic memory seeming very convinced with his own answer. Naruto didn't like that answer though. Wasn't a photographic memory something that was present from birth, like Shikamaru? Most of the Nara's were born with photographic memories; they could remember pretty much everything from their moment of birth.

Shouldn't she be able to do the same thing if that were the case? The logical answer would be yes, but she did not - no matter how many headaches she gave herself in trying. It was only for the last few months that this ability had emerged and that told her this was not a photographic memory like the old-geezer suggested. That scared her.

She released one of her white-knuckled fists from the barrier and hugged her knees closer. She did not cry - crying did not solve anything. Never had, never will, but she was genuinely afraid of herself. And that made the strange all the worse. It was not that the ability was unwelcome, it was very beneficial, but it was mysterious, unknown, not something that she had accounted for.

Naruto was always sure of herself, and avoided the unknown for fear of becoming unsure and her resolve weakening. This came from the villagers' hatred for her. She didn't know why they hated her, but she was afraid of the reason whatever it was. Yet she hated not knowing what it was.

She had a clear resolve to always be in control of her own actions from this; the sudden cognitive upgrade was uncontrollable. Thus, it was to be feared.

"What the hell are you doing out here you idiot?!"

Naruto swirled her head to one of the streets on the side of the river, raging currents swirling from the tempest that hung over the village. Her wet hair clung to her neck face and shoulders, and she pushed it aside to clearer see the one who called out to her.

"Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking coming out in a storm like this?!"

Sasuke had to fight to be heard above the raging winds; tentatively bracing the storm, he hurried towards her seat on the bridge. He wore a long ninja cloak, but it did little to protect him from the storm - it was already completely soaked through.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her from her seat, hurrying to the shelter of a closed shop-entrance. She stared up at him, he being slightly taller than she was. He gave her a look of wide eyed horror as he took in her dripping appearance, fervently removing his own soaked cloak and draping it around her shoulders. Naruto stared at him, a perplex look on her face as he did so.

"What on earth were you thinking going out in a storm like this?" he yelled, trying to make his voice be heard above the snapping thunder and howls of the wind.

"I just felt like going for a walk" she informed him, completely unconcerned.

His eyes bulged in their sockets for a brief moment before he clapped her on the back of the head with his hand. Naruto winced as the blow added to the already irritating headache she had devolped - she'd been having a lot recentley, and they seemed to be getting worse.

"Are you crazy?! You could catch pneumonia out here! Never mind the lightning just out side the village wall that could frazzle you!!"

Sasuke whacked the back of her head once again for good measure.  
Naruto gave him an exasperated look.

"You know I don't get sick duck-butt-head!" she grumbled truthfully.

In all her years, she had never once caught so much as a measly sniffle. Any physical injuries quickly healed too. It was another oddity that completely baffled her. Then again, these headaches were making her wonder is she really was as healthy as she had previously thought. Sasuke, displeased her casual attitude to her health, refused to remove the irritated look from his face.

"Just because you don't get sick doesn't mean you can't be electrocuted you idiot!"

He whacked her on the head again.

"Ouch! Stop doing that duck-but-head! I do feel pain you know!" she grumbled.

They bickered in the shelter of the shop entrance, faces illuminated by the flashes of angry light, voices barley audible over the sound of the wind.

"What are you doing out here if it's so dangerous?" Naruto asked

She was genuinely confused; here he was lecturing her about going out in a storm when he was doing the same thing!

"I'm looking for you dimwit!" he retorted.  
"What? Why?"

Sasuke sighed.

"Ino's dad called mine after Ino went looking for you earlier. She's going nuts by the way, she thinks you've been caught in a tornado and dumped in the middle of Wind Country."

Sasuke let this information be absorbed. The girl began grumbling to herself about stupid overprotective pigs, and Sasuke fought down the urge to laugh at her grumpy, exasperated expression.

"Dad sent me out to look for you since he's kind of gone paranoid too, thanks to Ino. He's turning the village upside down. It's quite scary actually…"

Sasuke shuddered at the memory. Worry was not an expression he was used to seeing on his fathers face.  
It just seemed wrong somehow.

"Perma-Frown? Are you sure?" she asked in disbelief.  
Sasuke nodded.

"Oops"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. She had the head of the Uchiha clan turning the village upside down looking for her due to her imbecilic nature and all she could say was _'oops'?!_ He dashed these thoughts from his head; they could be attended to later. Right now, his priority to get the stupid girl back indoors.

"Come on, I'm supposed to take you home if I find you."

Not waiting for a reply, he took her hand and led her out of their temporary shelter. Naruto protested loudly but found herself being dragged towards the Uchiha compound all the same; Sasuke deemed this as payback for matching his test scores for the third time in a row.

* * *

_**  
Whack-A-Mole no Jutsu! Seriously, that is Awesomeness right there! Mandarin, I salute you!  
But you can't hypnotise everyone with the Moon *snorts loudly*, because you are still an Evil-Nasty-Man. An old one.**_

_**The evil ones are always so funny...  
Yes, I am twisted. Your point being...?**_

_**Reveiw Duckies!  
Nat.  
xxx**_

_**  
*Revisions made 25th April 2010: Spelling and Grammar Errors edited - UK English used. A few plot holes corrected. Some additional description, but nothing excessively important.**_


	2. Act II: When Trolls Grow Up

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY**

**

* * *

**

**ACT II  
~ WHEN TROLLS GROW UP ~**

* * *

Naruto forced a weak smile on her face at the sight of Fugaku Uchiha. She stood in his walkway, dripping water onto the floor from her outdoor excursion, rubbing her head sheepishly. He gave her a look that suggested a lot of misfortune on her part if she did not come up with a suitable explanation very quickly.

"Err… nice weather were having?" she smiled weakly.

Fugaku continued to frown at her. Hidden around the corner, Sasuke couldn't help but feel pity for the girl. His dad was freaking shit scary when he was mad. He didn't feel enough pity to try and reassure her though. Just because he pitied her at the moment didn't make him stupid.  
His dad was _seriously_ not happy.

"And why, pray tell, did you deem it wise to go out in a thunderstorm such as _this_?" Fugaku asked in an eerily calm voice.

Naruto trembled at the sight of the intimidating figure towering over her. When, oh when would she finally hit a growth spurt? His enraged eyes were calm, and that made them all the more terrifying for the young girl. Tears welled up in her eyes and for the first time since he had met the girl three years ago, Sasuke witnessed Naruto Uzumaki cry.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!" Naruto sobbed, hugging her minder around the waist (it was as far as she could reach) much to Fugaku's astonishment.

After recovering from the shock, Fugaku sighed and crouched down to her eye level. Sasuke almost had a heart attack, thinking he was about to actually _hug_ the girl; however it was a false alarm. Fugaku bopped the girl on the head lightly. Apparently it was a reprimand since Naruto yelped at the impact.

"You idiot girl, what on earth possessed you to go out in this?" Fugaku gestured towards a window as a thunderclap echoed loudly through the village.

Naruto mumbled something too quiet for Sasuke to hear clearly. The only words he caught were _'photographic' 'don't want to' 'old-geezer' 'piggy'_ and _'freaking weird'_. This was less than helpful; he could not for the life of him think of how these five words could form a cohesive sentence.

He did however catch his fathers eyes widen for one nanosecond with, unless he was sorely mistaken, panic. The expression vanished as quickly as it appeared and Sasuke found himself wondering if he was mistaken. Had the discomforting tone not been present in his father's voice, he would have believed he was.

"You are sure?" he asked.

Naruto nodded and Sasuke couldn't help but be puzzled by the frown on his fathers face. What on earth was he so worried about? Suddenly this didn't seem to be about the weather anymore.

"I see"

Sasuke wished Itachi was home to shed some light on all this; he would have an idea of what was going on. Unfortunately, Itachi had his own mission and wouldn't be back till later that night; Sasuke was left to contemplate these thoughts by himself.

* * *

After giving the idiot some clean clothes (Sasuke didn't know why his father had girls clothing in his cupboard, and deemed it prudent not to ask), and bribing her into taking a shower with the promise of ramen, Sasuke found himself accompanying the girl through the now calm streets of Konoha.

The girl had been adamant that she was perfectly capable of walking home herself, and was none the worse for wear, but Fugaku had other ideas. He did not trust the villagers at all, despite tea Third Hokage's law, and would have none of it. After Sasuke butted in claiming girls shouldn't walk around so late alone, she had no choice but to give in. However this was not before punching Sasuke for implying women couldn't look after themselves.

As they walked past the ramen stand, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what had her so wound up. Even after talking with _his_ father (he was still having a hard time visualising Fugaku Uchiha as an agony aunt) she still looked worried about something. She reacted to the smallest of movements. She nearly impaled a poor bow-adorned cat with a kunai when it knocked over some rubbish bins.

His musings triggered the memory of her conversation with Ino earlier in the day. Was that why she was so on edge? But that didn't make sense, of she was having an easier time remembering things surely it just meant she was getting smarter (well, sort of), shouldn't it be a good thing? Never one to leave curiosity unsatisfied when he could avoid it, he deemed he would get more answers from the blond girl herself.

"Why are you freaking about remembering stuff so much?" he asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Naruto stared at him for a few moments, clearly surprised he knew what she had been stressing over.  
"It's weird! I'm not even trying to remember things, but I remember them anyway…" she grumbled, refusing to meet his gaze.

He frowned in confusion.  
"but isn't it a good thing? You place second in class now"

"That's just it Sasuke!" she yelled in frustration, pulling on her pigtails with much the same emotion.

Sasuke startled a bit at the action. Was the hair-pulling necessary? What if she pulled it out? Weren't girls supposed to obsess over their hair?  
Wait, this was Naruto; she was a girl in genetic make-up only.

"I don't even understand any of it! I just know the answers for the questions Dolphin and Bandage-Face give us, even if I don't want to! And I can't forget anything! It's like it's permanently branded into my skull! I'm weird enough already, I don't need this on top of everything else!" she all but yelled, still pulling on the pigtails.

If Sasuke didn't know better, he'd say she was prematurely developing the Sharingan. He remembered Itachi being on the verge of gouging his eyes out when he went through the process. Sometimes it developed on its own, instead of during a traumatic experience like it usually did. That was what happened with Itachi, and if he remembered rightly he'd been a bit freaked out with the perfect-memory thing till their father had sat him down and explained it.

He'd been given the same explanation himself, though he had yet to actually activate his family's bloodline. He remembered being on the verge of gouging his eyes out when he went through the process; but only after walking in on his father in the shower, something that had scarred him for life

But Sasuke did know better, if Naruto was developing the bloodline she wouldn't be an Uzumaki. If anyone married into the clan, they took the family name. And if not married, any children produced by a couple would receive the Uchiha name; it was a law of the village for certain bloodlines. Whoever her father had been, it wasn't an Uchiha or she'd be in the clan. He'd seen her mother's grave and she was an Uzumaki, so Naruto developing the Sharingan was impossible.

After trying to think of some other explanation, he couldn't blame her for freaking out. If it was him, he'd bee losing it a bit himself. After listening to her explanation of how the process worked, he debated asking if she wasn't distantly related to his own clan; some of the side effects could be found in very distant relatives.

The way she was alerted when there had been a sound, for example, was similar to how Itachi had explained the breakdown and memorisation of ninja techniques with the Sharingan. This was much more than an average photographic memory.

Considering her lack of people to confide in she had all the reason in the world to have some sort of breakdown. Or as she was currently doing: waving her arms, pulling her pigtails, yelling and trying to vent in general.

"Maybe you should just go with it" he suggested, breaking her out of another rant of some un-wanted memory (Something about a drunken man trying to dance at Ichiraku's).

She gave him a _'are you on some sort of medication that makes your head funny?'_ look.

"It's not really doing you any harm is it? You don't have to worry about studying as much; you just need to get to the point where you understand what your'e remembering. If something goes wrong and you go into a coma or something, then you can worry. It might no be permanent, so you should take advantage of it while you can."

They had, by now, arrived outside the small apartment where Naruto lived. Sasuke didn't know why she lived on her own; his father had offered her a place in the compound more than once, but she was stubborn. He suspected it had to do with the sentimental value of the place. From what he knew, the apartment had been her father. She didn't know his name, never mind having seen a picture. She had plenty of her mother, but she had nothing of her father but this old apartment.

She stared stunned by his speech for a few moments.

"Oh my god, you _can_ talk after all!" she gawped.

He frowned at her and she broke into gales of laughter. He waited for her to finish irritably. After claming down she focused on the arduous process of opening her door. The hinges were dodgy, and the door itself was a bit of a tight fit in the frame.

After vanquishing the fearsome door, she gave him another long stare. He was about to ask her what she was staring at when quick as a flash he felt a pair of soft lips on his cheek, followed by the sound of the door slamming and an embarrassed cry of:

"Thanks Sasuke!"

Sasuke stood staring at the door that had been slammed in his face, slightly confused as to what had just occurred. He replayed the whole scenario in his head, before flushing a bright cherry colour.

'_S-She kissed me! The least girl-like girl in existence! I didn't think she even knew how!' _

Sasuke idly noted the kiss didn't really bother him as much as it normally would have. Sakura had tried to do the same thing once, and Naruto and Ino had to hold him back before he actually hit her. That was just for the mere attempt. Why wasn't this bothering him? It didn't make any sense at all.

* * *

Upon arriving back at his own house, he had slumped on the sofa, staring into nothingness as he tried to come to some sort of logical reason as to why Naruto's show of affection did not make him want to kill something with lots of kunai. He'd even caught the attentions of his father with his strange actions.

"Did something happen I should be worried about?" he asked.

Sasuke knew this was about as close to concern as his father would let show. Was he really acting that odd? Was that why Naruto kissed him? Was she trying to cheer him up? No, she knew that would have been the last thing that would have cheered him up. So why wasn't he mad at her?

"Sasuke? Did you hear me?"

Sasuke jerked back to reality at the sound of his father's voice.  
"Huh?"  
"Did you not hear my question?"  
"What? No, why?"

"I asked if something happened I should be worried about" his father repeated the question.  
"When?" Sasuke asked, still a bit confused.

Why was his father so talkative all of a sudden? He was only this talkative with Naruto.  
"On the way to Naruto's apartment" his father clarified.

Sasuke suddenly remembered the feel of Naruto lips on his cheek.  
"You have been acting like a creature of non-intelligence since you came home, I though it strange"

Sasuke could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Why was he remembering that now?!  
He couldn't let his father see him blushing like a girl!

"N-No! Nothing at all!" he objected hastily.

Sensing his mistake, he clamed down as much as possible and mad an excuse about needing sleep, before walking from the room as quickly as possible. He closed the door behind him and flopped down onto the bed, not without stubbing his toe on something in the darkness first.

"Argh! I don't get it! What the hell did she have to go and do that for? Stupid blonde!" he yelled into the unusually less-plump pillow, beating it once with his fists. It felt good to vent frustration, so he thumped the pillow some more.

Stupid._ Thump. _Blonde._ Thump. _Stupid. _Thump_. Naruto.

"Sasuke? What are you doing to my pillow? More to the point, why are you in my room?"

Sasuke yelped, rolling off the bed to avoid any possible kunai-hurling. As he rolled of the bed, his head made contact with something hard and made of wood that wasn't supposed to be next to be next to his bed. He hissed in pain, feeling something trickling down his head past his nose.

He tried standing up, but saw stars and decided standing wasn't a good idea. His head really hurt, and there was something sticky in his hair that smelled weird. What was he doing again? There was a rustle of clothing and the lights flicked on.

"Sasuke, you're bleeding. You need to get father to check you over" Itachi said, pulling him to his feet.  
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked gripping his brother's arm.

His head felt very fuzzy, and hurt. Why was Itachi here? He took a tentative step forward. He felt woozy.  
"Sasuke, this is my room"

"What? It can't be…" Sasuke looked around carefully, trying to avoid the dizziness.

No wonder he hit his head, Itachi had that cabinet by his bed. His was on the other side. Wait, why was in Itachi's room? That made no sense; he was supposed to be in his room, not Itachi's.

"Why am I in your room?" Sasuke asked, vaguely aware of being direct towards the sitting room once again.  
"How should I know? Sit down while I go find father" Sasuke sat on the sofa obediently, trying to figure out why he had been in Itachi's room.

Had he been so frazzled that he'd walked into Itachi's room instead of his own? Apparently, but why was he so frazzled anyway?!

Footsteps told him Itachi had returned with their father.

* * *

Fugaku gave him an exasperated look.

"First Naruto decides to go out in the worst thunderstorm in eleven years, now you decide to bash your skull open?" Itachi raised an eyebrow and Fugaku waved his hand in an _'I'll tell you later'_ gesture. He sat down on the sofa beside him and his hand glowed green with one of his old medical techniques. He led his hand to the wound and frowned.

"If you'd hit your head any harder, you'd have a cracked skull. What on earth were you _doing_?" he asked wearily.  
"I was… startled. I rolled of the bed in case someone was attacking and hit my head on Itachi's cabinet" Sasuke replied as his father knit the skin on his head back together with chakra.

"Why_ were _you in my room?" Sasuke didn't answer. He had not plausible excuse, and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell them the truth. He'd never live it down if they found out. Fugaku glared at him, having finished healing his head, and Sasuke fidgeted awkwardly.

"Sasuke" Fugaku warned.

Sasuke decided he could just explain without actually mentioning anything too embarrassing. He just had to be careful with his wording.

"I was thinking about something, so I wasn't really concentrating. Itachi popped up out of nowhere and…" he left it hanging.

Itachi shook his head, clearly trying to hide his amusement.  
Fugaku gave his son an analytical gaze before grumbling something to himself.

"What did she do _now_?" he asked, actual resignation appearing in his face.

Sasuke gave him a look of confusion.

"Naruto, what did she do? I know this is her fault, that girl causes problems without even being in the room. You've been acting strange since you came home, it's only logical this is her fault somehow. What did she do?" he asked, in a tone that seemed to beg nothing that had caused destruction.

Sasuke's flushed face was enough to answer his question.

"Oh shit…" Fugaku rubbed his temples before glaring at Itachi.

"You. Why didn't you go through this? This would be so much easier if I you had, I'd have previous experience for reference"  
"What? I don't understand, what are you talking about father?" Itachi asked, genuinely stumped.

Fugaku gave him a look of exasperation before gesturing to Sasuke with one hand.

"This! Girls! Puberty! You never did that! You just grew…" he glanced his eldest up and down tut-ing.

"With you I just had to point out the facts and leave it at that. If you weren't so asexual I wouldn't be having this problem…" he glanced towards his youngest.  
"I'm not asexual! I'm just picky!" Itachi said defensively.

"What do girls have to with puber-whatsit?" Sasuke asked.

"Great now I have to give him the Talk..." Fugaku grumbled, stomping down the hall to his office, still grumbling.

"...Bad enough with Itachi, I could bribe Iruka butThat means Naruto'll be sent back to the girl's class for a while. If this get's out she'll be _hell on earth_…"

Itachi ignored his father, still offended by the asexual remark.  
Sasuke was still relatively confused.

"The Talk? What Talk?"

* * *

Naruto refused to answer Ino's questions as they entered the classroom. Ino twitched, but catching sight of that teacher from the upper year classes, she decided against saying something. He had a worse temper than she or Naruto did, it wasn't worth the risk. She vowed to find out what was bothering her fellow blonde by the end of the day however.

They took their seats, Ino seated between Shikamaru and Choji. As Naruto slid in next to Sasuke, Ino noticed the blonde's light blush. She took a look at Sasuke to find him flaming like a tomato. She _had_ missed something! She knew she had! Sasuke had been acting out of it all week, and Naruto was not blushing for any reason. She made a mental note to interrogate Naruto later; Plaster-Face had entered the classroom.

"Alright, there's been a change of plans today, so we won't be covering chakra types until the afternoon. Instead of that in the morning, you'll be given a presentation in your separate classes. Girls, go to Hana in room twelve. Boys, you're with me and Kotetsu, and Iruka in room 15. Go"

There was the sound of feet moving down the aisle and towards the doorway, grumbling voices, and questions on what they may be doing. Naruto was about to part ways with Ino as she normally would for these classes, when she was stopped by Plaster-Face.

"Naruto, you'll be going with the girls this time"  
"What? Why? I'm in the boy's class! I don't do that stupid flower stuff!"  
"I'm sorry Naruto, but this is a bit different. You _have_ to go with the girls"  
"But-"  
"I'm sorry Naruto, but you have to go"

Naruto growled several uncomplimentary words under her breath as she turned in the direction of room 15, hurrying to catch up with Ino. Ino almost had a heart attack when she popped up beside her. Naruto explained things as best she could, which wasn't really that well since Izumo hadn't told her much. She sat down with Ino, stating that she would bring pain and misfortune upon Izumo if she had to faff around with daffodils, or worse: tea ceremony.

Hana entered the room with a TV. on a rolling table. There was excitement; they didn't often get to watch videos. Technology wasn't used much amongst ninjas. They had more reliable methods, though they were slightly more cumbersome.

"Alright, I'm not going to bother telling you what this is about. Just watch the video and you'll get it. Any questions can wait till the end, and no Naruto, it's nothing to do with flower arrangement or tea ceremony."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Dog-Lady wouldn't lie. She hated the stuff as much as she did, and she was stuck teaching the stuff.  
Poor Dog-Lady.

Hana pushed the video into the slot on the Video Player, and a bright pink screen flashed onto the screen. The speakers were blaring some sort of sickening, syrupy, supposedly cheery music as bold lettering in fancy script flashed on the screen: _'You and Your Body'_

Naruto wondered if it was too late to run out of the room when the sugar-coated voice over blasted throughout the room. The video could handle, she already knew this stuff; The Old-Geezer had got Ayame to tell her after he caught her riffling through his porn collection a year or so ago. Yes, the video she could care less about, but if she had to put up with this freaky Belinda lady throughout the video…

She shivered.

* * *

Sasuke cringed as Izumo accidentally ripped the condom they were supposed to be placing over a plastic dummy. Iruka wasn't doing much better, he couldn't explain anything without turning beet-red, and spent half his time trying to keep Izumo and Kotetsu in line.

The video hadn't been very informative, in fact it was downright useless, but he sincerely doubted the condom was supposed to rip like that. It sort of defeated the point of the whole thing. Even worse, now that he knew what his father had been freaking out over last week, he had images of the _other stuff_ popping up in his head. Involving his blonde bench mate.

He didn't even mean to think about it, Naruto just appeared in his head! Was this puberty? He already hated it, and if that dodgy video was anything to go by, he hadn't even started it yet! It sounded horrible!

How come Itachi got to skip this? His father was right; he had just randomly gone from Twelve-Year-Old-Itachi to Sixteen-Year-Old-Itachi overnight.  
_Stupid Itachi._

"I can't believe you _ripped it_! Boys, that's what you're _not_ supposed to do ok?""Shut up! You were the one who said to roll down faster!"  
"Because you took too long Izumo! I hope you don't take this long in real-life cause if so then-"  
"Are you trying to imply something?!"  
"Kotetsu, Izumo calm dow- Naruto?!"

Sasuke jerked his head to the doorway and internally cringed. He had noticed earlier that she had had a wardrobe change but had paid no heed, but now…  
Of all the days for Naruto to change her wardrobe!  
Stupid, stupid blonde!

She was wearing slightly poofy trousers that ended just above her knee with an orange belt. Along with a pair of ninja boots that ended mid thigh instead of her usual sandals, she had wrapped grey bandages around her upper torso. Over the top, an orange jacket, and her gloves on her hands.

He didn't want to admit he was staring at her wrappings, but he was. After that video, it was impossible not to. Not that there was anything there, but he and his classmates had been introduced the idea of hormones. Sasuke was quickly learning what a formidable force hormones could be.

She walked into the room and stared at the contraption on the desk, then at Kotetsu and Izumo.  
She gave them a withering look.

"Y'know, that's not have you're supposed to put a condom on..."

They stared at her. Sasuke just knew she was going to do something, he knew it. This was just like the first time she entered the class when she was six years old. Kotetsu had that same freaked-out look on his face as he'd had when he'd finished talking to the Hokage.

He was not surprised.

Naruto plucked one of the condom wrappers of the pile they were presumably to use for practice. She opened the packet, pulled out the rubber contraption, and pulled the ripped one off the plastic model. She stared at the brown lump of plastic and snorted.

"That looks more like a turd than a penis" she stated, clearly not impressed.

Ignoring the looks of horror from the tutors, she took the new condom and in one quick motion had it in place of the old one, distinctly un-ripped. She turned to Kotetsu and Izumo.

"_That_ is how you put on a condom" she informed them before turning to Iruka, seemingly oblivious to their shock.

"Oi, Dolphin, can I sit in here and study? I already know this stuff, and that lady on the girls' video makes me want to kill something. That woman sounds like a strangled cat that got high on something. It's traumatic"

Sasuke was tempted to tell her she had likely traumatised Iruka Kotetsu and Izumo without even thinking about it. But this was far too amusing, besides if Naruto stayed, he could ogle some more. He'd given up on fighting this new-found curiosity; it was pointless when his thoughts were going to drift that way every three seconds anyway.

"I don't know if that such a good idea Naruto, the boys aren't done yet so-"  
"Pleaaase Iruka-Sensei? I don't want to go back to that stupid video! That lady sounds like a doped up cat with a bad voice box!"

Sasuke didn't bother to suppress his tiny snort.  
This was hilarious! Iruka's face was priceless! The guy was positively scandalized!

"I really don't think so… I mean…" Iruka fumbled for the correct and proper wording.  
"If you're worried about the boys ogling me I don't care, threes nothing to ogle. Besides, it's a compliment! In a weird obscure way…"

Kiba burst out laughing almost immediately after she had finished speaking. He was soon joined by Choji and even Shikamaru. Sasuke allowed himself to laugh a small amount himself. Iruka seemed like he was going to object, but Naruto ignored him and trotted up to her seat next to Sasuke. She plopped down into her seat, oblivious to the boy next to her furiously trying not to blush.

During break, she disappeared for a few minuets before returning with a small pink hardback. Sasuke felt alarms ringing in his head, but he was far too curious to care. She gestured to the boys to gather round and there was a small formed around the desk they shared.

"What's that?" Kiba asked, gesturing to the book.  
"This, boys, is porn"

"Porn?" Choji looked confused.  
He'd heard his dad and uncle using the word but he didn't actually know what it was.

"Basically, someone was perverted enough to write about people having sex." she stated boredley, as if she didn't find the book all that impressive. "There are pictures too; it's seriously weird sometimes though. There's something to do with whipped cream, its odd. If you're having sex, why'd you need cream or food or- Choji? Hey, Choji! Wake up!"

"Just leave him, he'll wake up when he gets hungry again" Shikamaru said lazily.  
He wanted to read that book, for the sake of curiosity.

"Hurry up and open it Naruto! I wanna see!" Kiba egged on eagerly.  
"Fine, but this one isn't all that good. The stuff in the Old-Geezers desk drawer is way better" she said, as if warning them they were about to be disappointed.

* * *

A year later, and graduation day had finally arrived. Naruto was just as rambunctious, Sasuke was just as quiet and Ino equally loud-mouthed. Naruto had finally come to terms with her unusual memory process, and used it to her advantage just as Sasuke had suggested. After memorizing the information from their textbooks, she re-read it until she understood what she was being told.

She worked on the more active side of her studies with Sasuke and Ino, and they were normally found in the top three rankings after tests, Naruto and Ino switching back and forth between second and third place; on one occasion however, Naruto managed to snatch first from Sasuke, much to his consternation

The day of the graduation exam had gone well; she had been able to exert enough control over her chakra to create the three clones required (thanks to Ino drilling the control into her). However, one of the other teachers who seemed to dislike her had forced Iruka to fail her on a technicality.

Mizuki had given her a different option, and she had taken it gladly. After stealing the forbidden scroll she had mastered the Shadow Clone technique with the hopes of graduating with her two friends. Then everything had gone pear shaped when Mizuki told her of the demon that had taken up residence in her gut, and Dolphin had gotten himself stabbed in the back by a giant shuriken.

Thankfully, things had ended with Mizuki's arrest, and the Old Geezer had given her a proper explanation, instead of Mizuki's blatant yelling and curse riddled one. Having come to terms with this new burden, she had been given her headband, and been sent home to get some rest before graduation. Mr. F (a recent upgrade from Perma-Frown) had given her a visit, presumably having been informed of her adventures by the Old Geezer, and left her with a bowl of dodgy-smelling leftover stew.

After sampling the stew, she decided once and for all that Sasuke was right; No-one in his family could cook anything that could be considered food. Naruto found this slightly pathetic considering their abilities as ninjas, but she couldn't really talk. She couldn't make a decent meal unless it involved a microwave or boiling water either.

So despite that unplanned event, Naruto found herself sitting in her usual seat between Ino and Sasuke. Dolphin was almost finished reading out the list of Genin cells, but she was still waiting for her name to be called out. She sincerely hoped she wouldn't be put on a team with Sakura. She didn't find the girl to be mean or anything, but she was a bit Sasuke-Crazy. Naruto's close relationship with Sasuke was something the pink haired girl was particularly pleased with.

In short, she just gave her a headache.

"Team 10, consisting of Choji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, and Shikamaru Nara, will be lead by Asuma Sarutobi." a few jaws dropped at this unexpected set-up.

Naruto was glad she was not placed with the pink-haired girl, though she did pity Choji and Shikamaru. It was strange though, she had expected Ino to be placed with them, reincarnating their father's squad.

Dolphin read out the names of a few more teams, and Naruto's eyes widened in realization by the time her reached the end of the list. She felt Sasuke stiffen in the seat on her left as he too caught on.

"This leaves Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Ino Yamanaka in Team 7, under Kakashi Hatake" Iruka had barley finished reading out the list of teams before he was bombarded with questions from the new Genin candidates.

"Whaaat! How come Sasuke has Naruto on his team?!" one boy yelled indignantly.

Despite her brazen attitude and non-girl-like qualities, Naruto had somehow gathered a few fans. It was not very many, perhaps five or six out of the two classes, but they were there. Naruto was oblivious to their presence, something Sasuke seemed to find vexing.

"Oi Dolphin! I though I was going to be placed with Choji and Shikamaru!" Ino said, clearly confused with her placement.

Iruka sighed.  
He had expected this, but he was afraid he dint have very many answers for them.

"I don't make up the teams, if you have any complaints you'll have to talk to the Jonin commander. He's the one who makes up the teams based on your reports." Iruka informed the boy, who grumbled several derogatory comments to himself.

"As for you Ino" Iruka turned his attention to the stunned blonde girl "I was told to inform you you'll still receive private training with Shikamaru and Choji, but the Hokage wanted to try a different cell set up to the usual two-boys-one-girl cells."

He smiled at the three students, noting the equal looks of surprise on the faces of Sasuke and Naruto.  
"If you three get along well together, we may start using this kind of cell set-up for other teams" he explained.

"So were guinea-pigs?" Naruto asked, clearly offended by the idea.

Iruka silently prayed she wouldn't make too big of a fuss about the situation. He understood her dislike of being used as a test-subject, especially after the previous night's events, but this was for the good of the village in the long run - if it worked out at any rate.

"Well no, but…" Iruka searched for the words he needed to explain, but he couldn't seem to find them.

Thankfully Naruto seemed to understand and dropped the subject. Iruka was about to dismiss them for their lunch, when another voice spoke up; Sakura's voice.

"How come Naruto and Ino get to go with Sasuke?!" she demanded.  
Several other girls voiced their own agreements, though not quite as loudly as Sakura. Iruka rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Since this is a trial team formation, the Hokage wanted our best students on the team to maximise efficiency Sakura. Naruto has exactly the same scores as Sasuke, and Ino is a very close second, therefore they were chosen for the team."

"What?! But my scores in the test were higher than Ino's were!" Sakura objected.  
Iruka reminded himself that she was a child, and hitting her would count as abuse whether she was trained as a ninja or not.

"True, you did score better than Ino on the theory, but your overall physical skills are taken into account for the final grade, and yours were none too impressive Sakura" Iruka informed her in a tone which told the class he was no longer willing to answer any of their questions for the time being. Sakura huffed petulantly, but remained silent through Iruka's lecture on what it meant to be a Konoha ninja.

Naruto also remained silent, but as soon as Iruka dismissed them for their lunch she glomped Sasuke (who, if you looked closely, blushed), and then Ino. She even squealed. This scared Sasuke somewhat; in all the years he had known her, squealing was not something he would normally associate with her. He associated squealing with 'normal girls'. Naruto was distinctly not a normal girl.

It had taken him half a year to come to terms with the strange affecting for the 'non-girl' as he referred to her as inside his head, and he was used to her un-normal-ness. It was strange to see her doing something as normal as squealing along with Ino as she did. He breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped to drag him out side to eat their (Read: Ino's) lunch.

* * *

After three hours of waiting, not including their lunch hour, Naruto Sasuke and Ino found themselves sitting on the roof with a masked, grey-haired man.

"Are you sure you should be a Jonin at your age?" Naruto asked, noting the gray hair.  
Ino, seated on her left, nodded vehemently. Sasuke gave him an enquiring look.

"I'm twenty-six you little trolls" he informed them.

They stared at him for several moments before he was suddenly attacked by the darker blonde.  
She was furiously grabbing at his orange book.  
His eye widened in confusion.

"Is that Icha Icha? Can I read it? Pleeaaase lemme read it Scarecrow!" she begged, aiming another swipe at the small orange hardback.

Kakashi avoided it easily, though he still looked very confused. Even _Anko_ glared at the book, and this small female child was practically fighting him for ownership. A look at the other two trolls showed the other blonde on the ground in hysterics, and the Uchiha boy seeming unsurprised.

"Err… maybe later" he said to the smallest of the trolls, effectively pacifying her for now.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves?"  
"We already know each other" Sasuke stated.

Kakashi twitched.

"You may, but I don't"  
"Sure you do, the Old Geezer'll have given you our files with our status and capabilities on them" Naruto informed him.

Kakashi fought down the urge to growl at the girl.  
She was still giving his book a manic-look.

"I tell you what, I'll go first, and then you copy me. Ok?" they nodded, and Kakashi replaced his book in his shuriken pouch.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I like lots of things, I have some dislikes, and my dreams are none of your business. Uchiha-brat, you can go first."

Sasuke bristled at the Uchiha-brat comment, but soon turned it into an evil looking smirk.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I like lots of things, I have some dislikes, and my dreams are none of your business. Uchiha-brat, you can go first." He repeated.

Ino and Naruto collapsed into gales of laughter, and Sasuke gave Kakashi and evil grin.  
"That's not what I meant you little brat!"

"But you said to copy you Sensei! Sasuke just did what you said to do" Ino countered, grinning like a cat that caught a mouse_ and_ found the cream.

Kakashi's visible eye was beginning to develop a permanent tick. Why did he agree to take a team this year?  
Oh yes, the perverted girl was his Mentor's daughter.  
Tch. Stupid emotional involvement; that meant he'd have to put up with their manic-psycho-ness.

"I meant do the same thing, but change it to suit yourselves, now why don't we try that again Mr Broody?" he spoke through gritted teeth to Sasuke.

The paler blonde cackled. Sasuke smirked and took up where he left off.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, I like training and tomatoes with _sugar-" _he gave Naruto a pointed look, and she stuck her tongue out in retaliation. "- And err, some other stuff-" his eyes flicked back to Naruto and an almost invisible blush flashed across his cheeks for a brief moment.

"-I hate my dad and my brother's attempts at cooking, my own cooking, the crazy girls who stalk me, and when Naruto and Ino get their time of the month. Theyre shit scar- Ow!" Naruto crashed her fist down onto his skull, and Ino gave him one of her feared elbow-to-stomach manoeuvres.

"…my dream is, err, to be a good ninja like my brother I guess." he spoke after recovering form the joint-attack, his gaze flickered to Naruto again, but the girl didn't seem to notice. The other blonde harpy did however, and her eyes flashed with some sort of emotion that made the Jonin nervous for some reason.

"Witchy, you're up" Kakashi smiled through at his mask at Ino. Ino glared at him, and Kakashi wondered if it was a good idea to irritate a girl who could invade his consciousness with a few hand signs.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka. I like gardening, training, meddling, and irritating people, well one in particular, but that aint your beeswax scarecrow."

Kakashi could have sworn Sasuke let out a pained whimper, but that was impossible. Brooders like him did not whimper.  
It made them look more human and less broody; thus, he could not have whimpered.

"I dislike… Err… slugs, my dad's, Naruto's, and Sasuke's cooking, and stupid people" she flashed a concerned glance in Naruto's direction.

Kakashi took this to mean she was referring to the villagers unfounded hatred of the girl (he knew the other two were yet to learn about the fox), not the blonde herself, since they were the three top ranked student from this year's batch of _'fresh meat'_.

"My aims are to be the first female head of the interrogation department, be a good clan leader, and another thing that's none of your beeswax."

Sasuke seemed to whimper again, and Kakashi began to wonder if he was hearing things.

"And… Whiskers" Kakashi nodded somewhat warily towards Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, training, gardening, _Salty_ Tomatoes -"she glared at Sasuke pointedly.  
Sasuke ignored her.

"-and Icha Icha when I can get my hands on it. I dislike perverts who peek in women in the hot springs and stuff, reading is one thing; stalking is different. I dislike Mr. F's, Man-Lady's, Duck-Butt's and Psychic's cooking, along with my own. My goal is to be Hokage!"

Kakashi hoped his team would fail his test; he could already imagine the constant headache they would give him. Unfortunately he had a sickening feeling they would pass with flying colours. Eventually at any rate.

* * *

_**I've been getting into TeniPuri again this week and i remembered that it was a FujiRyo oneshot that first exposed me to Yaoi. I remember screming in horror, and almost blasting my computer to smithereens. **_

_**Now I'd do the same thing, but only because Kirihara is so obviously Fuji's bitch. Ryouma belongs to Tezuka, Atobe, and occasionally (because I'm probably Hetro and have a weird obsession with 'happy family' stories) Sakuno. But I really prefer Atobe...  
**_

_**It makes me feel nostalgic. Nostalgia makes me feel old...  
Which completley sucks! I'm not even in my twenties yet!**_

_**I have no idea how this ties in with the story but please rate and review!  
Your comments are very much appreciated!**_

_**Nat  
xxx**_


	3. Act III: Bimbo, Broody, And Bonehead

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY

* * *

**

**ACT III  
~ BIMBO, BROODY, & BONEHEAD ~**

**

* * *

**

"Eh? Are you sure it's okay?" Naruto asked, slightly taken aback by Sasuke's request.  
"Yeah! Naruto and I eat a ton of food Sasuke!" Ino informed him warningly.

Sasuke nodded.  
He was already aware of how much food the two could consumne given the chance.

"Dad already told me to bring you two over after we finished. I guess he already knew we'd be put on the same team..."

Naruto was slightly amazed by this statement, and wondered if Mr. F could perhaps see the future.

"Whoa, that's creepy! It's like that weird lady who tells fortunes near the dango shop!" Ino asked as they made their way out of the academy gates.

"Says the girl whose family read's minds like books" Naruto retorted.  
"Shut up! It's still weird!!"

"Weird or not, do you really think we should listen to him about the no breakfast thing?" Sasuke asked.

He was in two minds about the whole thing; he got the impression it was part of the strange Jonin's twisted payback scheme for the _'old'_ comment.

"I'm not missing out on breakfast! I love my breakfast! Besides, I tend to die of starvation if I don't eat something in the morning. So no, I'm not listening!" Naruto stated.  
"Idiot, if he says no to eat then don't eat!" Ino yelled. "He's a Jonin! He knows what he's talking about stupid"

Sasuke considered this but found himself siding with Naruto. He liked his tomato pancakes at breakfast damn it!

They parted ways with Ino, agreeing to meet up at the entrance to the spice avenue. He accompanied Naruto to her house, waiting outside the small apartment while she changed. She emerged in her scruffy black t-shirt and orange shorts, and they were soon waiting for Ino outside one of the spice shops.

Naruto's eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement as she watched the trades haggling back and forth, arguing of the prices of cinnamon and saffron. Sasuke imagined that had she not become a ninja, she would have taken up an apprenticeship with one of the merchants. They didn't seem to mind her as much as the other villagers, in fact, they were downright friendly.

Sasuke guessed this was because of the wide variety of people the met through their sales. He'd seen some people from one of the desert countries past Wind Country once; the men had been covered in body-paint and the women had strange rings around their necks, stretching them upwards. It had been one of the oddest things he'd ever seen.

Since the merchants here had to deal with such a wide variety of people on a daily basis, Sasuke figured they were more open minded than the other villagers - though why they should be in the first place he didn't know.

"Oi, Naruto!" one of the merchants yelled, waving them over. Naruto was gone before Sasuke realized she had heard him; the noise of the sellers was deafening. It was a food stand similar to Ichiraku's; the smells of spice issuing from the small stall made his mouth water.

"Heya Masashi!" Naruto greeted the man exuberantly, giving him a suffocating hug.

The old man laughed, ruffling her hair.  
"How are you kid? Haven't seen you around here in a while"

"Been training!" she pointed at the forehead protector she had strapped to her arm instead of its usual position around her neck.

"I passed the exam! That Mizuki git tried to fail me on a technicality that no-one cares about, but dolphin showed him where he could shove it!" she grinned.  
The old man smiled.

"That's great news, have you had your test yet?"  
"Na, its tomorrow, scarecrow's lazy, he was three hours late this morning!" she fumed.  
"So you're in Kakashi's group; I pity you kid. He's supposed to be a real hard-ass with his tests"

Sasuke wondered how a civilian knew so much about the ninja set up, and about their new teacher, but decided he would ask Naruto at some other time.

"Pft. All I have to do is steal his porn and he'll be putty in our hands!" she grinned.

Sasuke had the distinct impression she would probably forget to give him the book back if she did steal it from him.  
If fact, it was really a matter of waiting…

"Oh, this is Duck-Butt! Remember I told you about him? He's my team-mate, Ino too!" Naruto pulled Sasuke into the man's field of vision.

He had been hovering just outside the shop, hoping to avoid notice. The man grinned and Sasuke got a close up of him. He wore an eye patch, and seemed to have a wooden pole for a leg. One of his hands looked like it had been reattached at some point, and the opposite was missing his two outer fingers. Burns and scars were evident on his face and on the skin of his chest not hidden by his short burgundy haori.

'_He looks like he's been through the interrogation unit three times over!'_ Sasuke exclaimed to himself.

"Nice to meet you kid, mind telling me your real name? Kiddo here seems to have a distaste for them" he nodded towards Naruto grinning.

The girl pouted.

"Sasuke Uchiha"  
"Uchiha huh? I used to know… hey, you look like Mikoto! You Fugaku's kid?"  
"Yeah…" Sasuke replied somewhat warily.  
This guy knew his mother?

"You know Mr. F Masashi?!" Naruto asked, clearly just as shocked as he was.  
"That'd be telling wouldn't it?" he grinned.

Sasuke noticed this man had the same sadistic streak as Naruto and Ino did occasionally; He presumed this man was the scource of it.

"Listen, I've been working on a new recipe and I want to test it out before going public with it. You got time to try it out?" he asked.

Naruto's face fell  
"Whaaat? This is such bad luck! Were going to duck-butt's fro dinner! Can you put a rain check on it Masashi? I promise I'll come back and try it! Please please please please please!!!" she wheedled, putting her hands together in a prayer sign.

Sasuke caught sight of those eyes she sometimes used unconsciously; the ones even his father couldn't resist for long. Those eyes were truly fearsome. He shuddered to think what should happen if she figured out how to use them on purpose.

Masashi laughed.  
"Sure kiddo, just be quick about it! No hurry up and get going, I think Ino's about to pull her hair out, and you know what she'll be like if that happens."

Naruto paled and hurried away from the shop towards Ino; she really was beginning to pull her hair. There was a garbled _'see ya' later!'_ over the roar of the crowd. Sasuke felt like pulling his own hair out; he said goodbye to the merchant before hurrying after her.

* * *

"I pity you; being assigned to Kakashi-Sempai was not an experience I'd hurry to repeat" Itachi stated seriously after the three future genin had completed recounting their tale of their first team meeting.

Naruto noted that Fugaku seemed unusually withdrawn; even he would normally have some sort of comment to make. Apparently Ino noticed this too.

"Is Scarecrow really that bad Mr. F?" she asked, trying to chew through what was supposed to be a weird flat meat called a burger.  
Apparently it was popular in lightning country; Sasuke's father had picked some up on an excursion there. Naruto didn't find the meat particularly appetizing, but that could have been Fugaku's cooking instead of the actual burger.

"He has… high standards. He also has punctuality issues" Fugaku stated.

He gave his own burger a disgusted glare.  
"This thing tastes nothing like those sold in Kumo."

"Wait, you mean being three hours late is normal?!" Ino asked, clearly horrified; weren't ninja supposed to be prompt?  
"Usually its four hours; he must have decide to be early since it was your first meeting" Itachi mused.

Ino seemed to be growing ever more unimpressed with their new teacher by the second.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful; Naruto and Ino near forced the three Uchiha's into conversation, but that was to be expected. It was so uneventful that Ino and Itachi grew bored. That was a bad thing; a bored Ino usually meant some form of sadistic torture (Ino called it _'fun'_) was to be dished out to those in the immediate vicinity. A bored Itachi usually meant some form of mind-game that was only enjoyable to him.

They were a formidable team when they formed an alliance in the valiant battle against boredom.

As Fugaku, finally so disgusted with the _'meal'_ he had to find some other form of nourishment, was kept busy in the kitchen Ino gained a dangerous glint in her eye as she watched Naruto holding conversation with Sasuke; a somewhat jittery Sasuke. Ino made a show of trying to cut up the burger until her fork pinged across the table and onto the floor, landing beside Naruto's feet.

"Jesus this thing isn't even organic, it's like rubber; can you pick up my fork for me Naruto?" she asked.

Not noticing her friends plotting, Naruto did as requested. Sasuke watched her bend over to pick up the fork from its position on the floor between their chairs. Itachi, who had been watching Ino with a raised eyebrow, saw Ino make a pushing motion.  
He frowned in confusion, not quite understanding her plot.

"Push him!" she mouthed at him across the table.  
Itachi's eyes shone with humour, and he moved his knife across the tough meat of his own burger; his elbow made a slightly enforced contact with Sasuke's back.

Sasuke felt himself falling towards Naruto as she pulled her head back up to above the table. She had been back in her seat for but a second before an abnormal weight sent her crashing to the floor. The chair smashed to pieces underneath her and she felt something soft crash into her lips; something weird ad slimy had found its way into her mouth.

Focusing her eyes, she saw a pair of soft charcoal eyes staring at her own in shock.

"Good God! What on earth is going on in here?!" Fugaku yelled from the doorway.

* * *

"See you later" Sasuke said quietly as she left the house. Naruto stood waiting for him at the gate and Fugaku watched their interaction closely. He had been worried that little prank from Ino and Itachi (he couldn't believe Itachi even knew what a prank was) would have caused a rift between them but it had done the opposite; Fugaku didn't know if this was better or worse, he wanted them to get along of course, but he'd been noticing they were growing closer than he was comfortable with latley.

This could all be avoided if simply told them the truth, but he couldn't do that. They were too young to be brought into the messier side of life just yet; and that's exactly what Fugaku would describe the whole scenario as, a mess.

Itachi emerged from the bathroom, hair dripping from the shower and loose.  
Fugaku had his suspicions that the Yamanaka girl would have been grinning manically had she been around to see it.

"Has Sasuke left for his test already?" he asked.  
Fugaku nodded. He was about to leave his son to his own devices but then he remembered his part in that little accident the night before.

"Itachi, take care that no miss-haps such as that which occurred last night take place from now on."

His son's genial aura disappeared before his eyebrows had moved into the frown now decorating his face. Fugaku didn't like that frown; it told him Itachi was getting more suspicious than he already was.

"I can't see how it would be a problem father, Naruto is pretty much family anyway; she and Sasuke have been close for years, this was bound to happen eventually. You have no problems with her, you are her sponsor! I can't see any reason as to why she and Sasuke taking things a step beyond friendship should bother you so much"

Itachi knew that neither of the two had actually said anything to each other yet, but like he had told his father, it was simply a matter of playing the waiting game. He could already tell Sasuke was growing increasingly frustrated with the stalemated they were locked in.

"I don't have the time to discuss this; just don't let it happen again" his father snapped in reply before moving briskly down the hallway towards his office.

That was different; he must be very on edge if he was snapping at him. It took a lot to put his father on edge. Apparently Naruto's relation to his father was much more complicated than he had originally thought. As his father slammed the door of his office, Itachi made a silent promise to find out just what skeletons his father was hiding from them, and what Naruto's relation to those skeletons were.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka was in a very good mood when she was left in charge of the flower-shop. She had landed an afternoon shift, and that meant she had time to sit back and read up on some of the family techniques she didn't know yet. Afternoons were always quiet for some reason. For other shops it was the other way around, but apparently people wanted flowers in the morning.

Her team had passed their test with flying colours. Well, eventually at any rate; Kakashi still had to tie Sasuke to the tree stump though. The boy was smart, but he still suffered from being to full of pride sometimes. She and Naruto had force fed him though, and his somewhat reluctant chewing had saved them from repeating the academy again.

She had noticed that he and her best friend had left together in the direction of the graveyard, somewhat closer than normal. That had almost made her jump up and down with glee. Her little match-making plot had worked perfectly! Then again, those two were somewhat easy to manipulate with this sort of thing. If only it were that easy with Itachi…

Ino's thoughts trailed away from the pair and towards Sasuke's older brother. Having once been a Sasuke fan girl herself, she couldn't understand what she had been doing chasing Sasuke for those few years when his older brother was just plain sexier. Not to mention, after getting to know him better, she'd discovered a wicked sense of humour that matched her own almost perfectly! Only Naruto had managed that feat!

"Ino…"

Now, if only she could turn that prudish streak into a perverted one she'd have it made! Wait, was someone talking to her? Shit! How long had they been there? It'd better not be that creepy woman who lived above Naruto again; she took way too long picking stuff out. Not to mention she was just plain creepy…

"Ino? Are you feeling unwell?"

Ino looked around for the source of the voice and nearly fell of her seat when she saw Itachi Uchiha standing in the middle of her family's flower shop.  
Oh dear god, he had his hair loose! And he was worried! He looked hot when he was worried…

Wait, worried? Why was he worried? It couldn't be her; he knew better than to do that unless she was dead or dying - something he'd learned the hard way. So if it wasn't her absentmindedness it was something else. She couldn't imagine him having any problems on a mission (Puh-leaase) or with women (she knew his problem in that area all too well).

That meant… something happened at home?

"Naw, I'm all good! Just off in dream land Man-Lady! So, what are you doing here? I'm presuming you want some flowers, cause if you want groceries, you need to be talking to Mrs. Haraguchi over the road"

hf for god's sake, why was she rambling?! She was supposed to be analysing him, not turning into a blob of jelly! Dam his good looks! Where was her Yamanaka pride when she needed it?! And why the hell was she using Naruto's nickname for him? That wasn't part of the plan damn it!

Itachi stared at her. Obviously her rambling had stunted him a bit. It gave her the perfect chance to analyse his facial expression. That set of the eyebrows… he was worried definitely but there was something else! Anger maybe? No, it wasn't anger, well maybe a bit of anger but not enough to be concerned about. Urgh, she knew she should have read that book on facial psychology when her brother had finished with it.

"You alright? You seem like something's bothering you…"

Itachi was stunned by her ability to read his facial expressions so easily. He had noticed her eyes flicking over him, observing everything from his stance to his hair (she seemed to have a strange stroke when she did that), but she had almost immediately picked up on his leftover feelings of discomfort after talking with his father.

He supposed this was to be expected from one of the Yamanaka, and he knew her father well enough to know he was an extremely competent interrogator. He would not have expected a Genin to pick up on it though; much less a girl as brazen as Ino. He wondered how many of her family techniques she knew. If she could get this out of him at this age she would be a formidable interrogator in the future, such was her goal according to Sasuke.

"You can tell? I'm impressed" he was alarmed when her eyes brightened so rapidly; why would a simple compliment have such an effect?  
It was the truth, and he knew of no reason she should react so strongly to a few words.

"Reading a face is nothing for Yamanakas" she waved her hand in the air nonchalantly. "I'm still learning though, I keep bunking off my study time. I could only tell because I know you so well; if you'd been an enemy ninja, I'd have been completely stuck. You want to see talent at reading faces go look for Inoro."

"Inoro?" he asked unfamiliar with the name.

"My younger twin. He's a freaking prodigy at reading faces, but he sucks at mind Techniques. He was in a different class to me in the academy, so you wouldn't have met him"

Ino smirked at him then, she was perfectly aware of his little avoidance manoeuvre; she was well practiced in them, how could she not be being friends with the village prankste?. She'd never forget worming her way out of cleaning the Hokage Mountain… Naruto had been _seething._

"But that doesn't tell me what's bothering you now does it?" she asked, grinning.  
She frowned when she was met with silence.

"Come on Itachi, spill the beans before I reunite you with my elbow-manoeuvre" she added in all seriousness.

Itachi didn't want to be reunited with the elbow manoeuvre. That had been painful, and Itachi could tell she was being very serious with her threats. But he wasn't sure sharing his concerns was a good idea…

Then again, Sasuke voiced his concerns to him and Naruto occasionally, and it only seemed to work in his benefit (particularly if he sought out Naruto). Was it a long shot to think sharing his own concerns wouldn't have the same affect? Ino was fairly reliable, and despite her love of gossip she knew when to keep her mouth shut…

"Father is not happy with the current state of affairs regarding Sasuke and Naruto" he spoke, after a long pause for thought.  
"You mean he doesn't want them to date?" Ino clarified into everyday language.

Itachi nodded.

"Err… Why? Naruto might as well live with you guys, them two finally hitting it off isn't going to change all that much"

"I had reached a similar conclusion; I suspect my father is withholding information of importance concerning Naruto, and this information is the source of his unease. He has never given a proper explanation as to why he chose to be her sponsor, and I can only think he knows something we do not."

Ino frowned for a moment, replaying the information in her head. He had a point there; Mr. F had never told Naruto why he had sponsored her, and he wasn't the type to make a gesture of such magnitude without an extremely good reason. Ino had a suspicion it was all linked to Naruto's family somehow, but she put that theory on the back-burner.

"Whatever it is you shouldn't worry about them so much, they're both too stubborn to let anything get in their way, be it ninja-wise or in romance. I swear you are just as bad sometimes." Ino couldn't help but be grateful for that though; if he hadn't been so stubborn in terms of work, he'd probably be taken. That was bad for her long term plans!

Itachi was confused; he was no longer worried. Why was he no longer worried though? Was it because of Ino's words? Did his and Naruto's words have the same effect on Sasuke? This was so odd… but somewhat refreshing as well. This made it all the more strange to Itachi.

"Whatever, you want flowers for your mum's grave right?" she asked before cursing her mistake.  
"How did you know that?" Itachi asked, genuinely surprised.

Ino felt like pulling her hair out. She could hardly say it was because his face always looked glum and happy-ish when he was intending to visit Mrs. M could she? He'd ask how she knew his face looked like that, and then he'd eventually find out she was a stalker-in-the-making, and that would be so bad for her confidence, and he'd think she was weird!

"Ok, I admit it; I probed your mind a little bit. I've been practicing and wanted to see if I could actually get past that Uchiha face of yours"

Score! That was an awesome save! It wasn't a total lie either, she had been practicing the Mind-Probe Technique; the fact that it still left her nursing a headache for four hours after she used it was a completely different matter. Sure, she hadn't actually used it on Itachi...  
But he didn't need to know that.

"Ah, I see. I wanted carnations, the dyed ones if you have them…" he looked around the shop, presumably searching for the said flowers.

"We keep those in the back while they're absorbing the colour, but I think the last batch is done. I'll go check..."  
She hurriedly dashed into the storage room at the back of the shop, and found her assumptions had been correct, before hurrying back with the tray of plants.

"Just take your pick" she instructed, laying the tray down on the counter with a thunk.

They had a lot of these for some reason, and the tray was always heavy, but hardly anyone ever bought them. Ino suspected it was her father's way of passing the time during the slow days since they always seemed to be strewn about the house in vases. Itachi immediately picked out a bunch the white flowers streaked with red. Ino wrapped them up in cellophane and handed them back.

"3 Ryo and 20 Dinari please."

Itachi handed over the money, giving her the tiniest smile of gratitude.  
Ino had to grab hold of the counter top with one hand to keep herself from fainting right there.

"If you don't mind me asking, why carnations? They aren't really anything spectacular and they die pretty quickly when they've been dyed like that…" Ino gestured to the flowers in his hand.

"I agree, they are a somewhat flimsy plant, but I believe mother was fond of them…" he replied in his quiet voice.  
For some reason Ino suddenly remembered her blond friend's affection for the unimpressive plants.

"Really? So does Naruto; she hates gardening with a passion, unless you can get poison or something from the plant you're growing. She says it's for wussies, but she has those things all over her apartment"

"I didn't know that" he mused aloud.  
Itachi stared at her as she said this, but Ino was too busy talking to notice. He narrowed his eyes as the cogs in his head turned rapidly. That wasn't something he'd noticed before, but now that he knew of it he could see other similarities between Naruto and his mother. Qualities that existed in himself and Sasuke.

"Well, I must be going; I have a mission this evening. Thank you for the flowers" he nodded his head politely before making his way back out of the door. He paused before leaving, and turned back to the secretly flustered girl at the counter.

"Congratulations on passing your test. Till next time Ino" he stated before disappearing out of the shop door.

Ino stood paralyzed for several moments before she dissolved into a jelly-like pile on the floor.  
"Shit, he's hot"

* * *

"You're serious? We don't have to chase after that rabid cat again?!" Naruto asked, hopping up and down gleefully.  
Ino had a hopeful glint in her eyes, and even Sasuke had perked up at the Hokage's statement.

"Yes Naruto, I think you and your team have proven yourselves capable of handling a C-Rank" the old Hokage said smiling.  
"By gaining the ability to perform at a c-ranked level, does that mean you'll let me read your Icha Icha books?"

"N-No!" the Hokage choked.  
He saw the girl's teacher discreetly hide his own orange book in a different kunai pouch. He probably should have warned him about this when he first told him who his new students would be, but he seemed to have found out anyway.

It was his own fault for leaving his books where they could have been found so easily really.  
He had known Naruto snooped through his drawers sometimes…

"Damn…"

"What kind of mission is it Hokage-Sama?" Sasuke asked, giving the blonde girl a withering look.  
"You'll be escorting a bridge builder to the Wave Country, one of the provinces on Fire country's coastline." the Hokage replied.

He made a motion to a burn-scarred Chunin. The Chunin walked through a pair of double doors, and returned moments later with a man wearing a rice farmer's hat and carrying a bottle of Sake in a brown paper bag.

"You called for me, Hokage-Sama?" he asked. The Hokage nodded.  
"We have an available escort group for you Mr. Tazuna" he motioned a hand in direction of team seven.

The man stared at them with scathing dissapointment.  
"I asked for ninja! Not a bunch of bratty kids pretending to be ninja!" he objected.

Kakashi began to panic beneath his mask. If he had learned only one thing about his first team it was that none of them had good tempers, and all of them were very violent when provoked, especially the girls. It took a bit more to get Sasuke riled up, but he was sure the man's comment was one of those things! He braced his muscles, ready to grab them by the collar when they exploded. He waited for several moments but the explosion did not come.

Taking a closer look at his Trolls, he could make out a sweet, girlish smile on Ino's face. Sasuke had adopted a withdrawn, blank look, and Naruto was smiling the same cheerful smile she normally did.

Kakashi shivered.

His Genin were more than mad; they were severely pissed off. He could see the doubt in the Hokage's face already, and wondered if he shouldn't request a different c-rank instead. He really didn't want to know what kind of torturous revenge his team were planning for their new client.

* * *

"I will so be Hokage Ino! Believe it!" Naruto yelled at the pale blond, gesticulating wildly with her arms.

Kakashi wished she could shout less loudly; not only was it unprofessional, it kept him from reading his book in peace. Not that he could really get any peace with these three acting like they were. He felt sorry for Tazuna; at least he knew they were being deliberately annoying, and could ignore it to some extent. As far as Tazuna was concerned, this was their normal behavior and he would have to put up their antics for the entire journey to wave country.

Kakashi had to compliment their ingenuity though. Tazuna had claimed they were nothing more than brats pretending to be ninja, so that was what they had given him.  
Poor bloke.

"No way Naruto! Sasuke's going to be Hokage, and then he's going to marry me! Aren't you Sasuke?" Ino asked in a syrupy voice, leaning towards the only boy on the team. Sasuke ignored them both. The only sound he had made since leaving the Hokage's office had been a non-committal grunt.

Tazuna was, for the record, severely irritated. He knew they were acting so irritatingly on purpose. He just knew it! He also knew that their actions would become distinctly less annoying were he to apologize for the _'brat'_ comment, but there was no way in the name of the five territories he was going to apologize to a bunch of twelve year olds. Well, the two girls looked about twelve; the moody boy looked about a year older.

The paled blonde noted a puddle in the middle of the road some distance ahead of them.

"Hey Naruto, lets go jump in that puddle!" she squealed. Tazuna covered his ears.  
"And why should I do what you say you bimboic excuse of a female ninja? I have better things to do with my time, believe it!" Naruto replied loudly.

She trying to pry the girl of her arm from where she had latched onto her.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" she exclaimed. "Plus Sasuke'll be completely entranced by me if he sees me covered in water!" she squealed to herself, just loud enough to be heard.  
Sasuke made another non-committal grunt; though Tazuna was sure he detected a hint of disgust in it.

Whether Naruto wanted to jump in the puddle or not, which was most likely not, didn't not seem to bother Ino. She dragged the blonde girl towards the puddle at a run, and Naruto was forced into jumping into the puddle along with her. Muddy water splashed onto Ino's clothing.

"Eww! Mud! How am I supposed to look sexy for Sasuke with mud all over me?!" she shrieked.  
"It was your idea!" Naruto snorted with laughter.

Sasuke made another grunting noise.

They had walked perhaps ten meters from the puddle when for some reason Kakashi was mutilated by two creepy ninjas with a long spiky chain. One of the ninjas seemed to have an ugly bruise on his face. Naruto pulled out three shuriken and whirled them towards the two ninja.

"Duck-Butt!"

"I'm already on it!" Sasuke yelled hurling three kunai in the same direction. The shuriken and kunai jammed the chain into the trunk of a nearby tree, preventing use. Ino and Naruto used the distraction to creep up and whack the two on the back of the head with a certain amount of force before joining Sasuke in front of Tazuna.

The ninja with the bruise on his face glared at Ino and Naruto.  
"You're next you little bitches!"

The three Genin surrounded a stunned Tazuna; be that from the sudden change in attitude from the three trolls or from the creepy ninja was uncertain. Naruto joined her thumb to her nose and waggled her fingers patronisingly, whilst Ino pulled down her lower eyelid with one finger and blew a raspberry. Sasuke added his own _'you-are-pathetic'_ smirk.

"You should learn to hide your consciousnesses when you're dealing with leaf ninja!" Ino yelled patronisingly. "Some of us are mind readers you know!"  
Naruto and even Sasuke snorted with laughter at the faces of the Mist ninja with the creepy claws.

Not for long though; the creepy claws I and II lunged towards them. Ino took place in front of Tazuna as Naruto and Sasuke lunged forward to meet the ninjas.  
"Don't even think of taking one step in front of me you old drunk!" Ino ordered the stunned man, who dumbly nodded in reply.

Meanwhile Naruto was busy with one of the clawed creeps. She used her small stature to her advantage (she didn't like it, but that didn't mean it didn't have it's benefits) and dived through his legs, twisting upwards and ramming a kunai into his shoulder, just missing his neck. She used the momentum from the twist to propel her self over his shoulder, going full circle around him, before landing in front of him, flipping mid air to meet him head on.

This was so easy! This was so slow she could practically see his next move! She lunged towards him again, flicking three shuriken towards him, he countered them with shuriken of his own, and she jumped upwards to avoid them. She came down almost on top of him bearing several kunai. He twisted at the last second, and Naruto believed he had dodged.

Then she felt something gnawing and biting into her back.

"Naruto!"

A rush of air above her and an agonized glance upwards told her a clawed hand was swinging towards her.

* * *

Sasuke saw Naruto collapse to her knees and his thoughts of mercy towards the clawed creep ended as he saw the second hovering over Naruto, clawed arm raised. He rammed his kunai through the chest of the ninja he was currently fighting, before speeding towards Naruto. And exploding noise behind him told him the exploding tag had worked, but he was still too far way!

"Naruto!" he yelled as the creeps claw was brought down in one swift motion towards the blonde girl.

"I think that enough of that" a familiar voice intoned.  
Sasuke stared at their teacher, who now stood between Naruto and the creepy ninja. The creepy ninja had a dazed look in his eyes and didn't seem to be focused.

"Next time you play dead stay dead!" Ino yelled angrily. "What the hell were you thinking leaving these creeps to us you dusty old scarecrow!"  
"I am neither old nor dusty; I'm twenty four!"  
"If you aren't old and you aren't dusty then why is your scarecrow hair grey?!"  
"Genetics Ino, genetics"  
"You lie! No-one is born already grey!"

"Can we stop the arguing and make sure Naruto isn't dying, maybe?!" Sasuke asked irately, finally reaching the blondes side.

"You alright?" he asked, not liking her abnormally pale complexion at all.  
She nodded, standing up. Sasuke could have sworn her eyes were red for a moment, but he dismissed it when her bandages unravelled.

"Shit! That bastard cut my wrappings up!" She screeched, instantly zipping up the front of her jacket before anything could be seen.

Sasuke wasn't sure wither he was supposed to be disappointed or relieved; he chose relieved considering there were so many other males around.  
Not that he was accusing them of anything but…  
He couldn't be too careful.

"Aw crud! My jackets all torn up as we- Ouch!"

Naruto had tried looking over her shoulder at the medium sized rip on the back, and succeeded in agitating her wound. It was a series of four short scratches from the clawed hand, and something at the edges seemed to be bubbling.

"Urgh, this really doesn't feel right, Oi scarecrow!" She looked up at the Jonin, swaying on the spot slightly.

"I think those things are poisoned, I feel kind of like visiting Lala Land…"  
"Sit down and try not to move too much; it'll keep it from spreading till we can get some… proper first aid"

Kakashi gave Naruto a meaning full glance at the word proper; she seemed to understand what he meant: sit down and let the Kyuubi heal it for the moment'.

Naruto wobbled a bit, and Sasuke immediately caught hold of her arm before she managed to trip over. He kept a hand on her upper arm knowing full well she could not, and would not; place an arm around his neck for support. Ino hurried over to join them.

"Despite a few hiccups, you did well trolls. Despite my apparent death you were quick to react to a dangerous situation and protect the client, and you didn't let your enemies' superior skills get in the way of that; Naruto, Sasuke, you two did especially well but you still have a lot to improve on. Naruto…"

He looked at the girl with a serious expression on his covered face, indicated by the no nonsense tone in his voice.

"you used your height and flexibility to your advantage, but you need to think more about your personal defence and perception; you were injured because you didn't take your enemy's own experience and skill into as much thought as you should have" Naruto nodded, having already realised her mistake.

"Sasuke, you have much the same problem. You need to remember to finish fighting your opponent before you jump to help others; that other ninja substituted himself before your exploding kunai hit him, leaving you open from behind."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stared in the direction of where he thought he had left an at least knocked out clawed creep. A charred smoking g log lay where his in jured ninja was supposed to be. The said ninja lay a few meters away from the log, sorting a shallow head injury; Sasuke presumed that was Kakashi's doing.

"Ino, you reacted quickly, and made your mission of higher importance than my death. You were the first to realise the danger too, though I'm not sure how you managed that…" he raised an eyebrow, hoping fro an explanation.

"You know about the Yamanaka telepathy right?" she asked.  
Kakashi nodded.

"Well, in Konoha I can communicate with any of my family members or anyone who is granted permission from the clan to sign some scroll. I can sense the consciousnesses of those who have trained with chakra to a lesser degree; I can't communicate with other ninja, but I can recognise their presence, their consciousnesses. I could feel two ninja in that puddle and I didn't think they were hiding there for the fun of being stamped on..."

She explained the abilirtly absentley, focused on pulling a roll of spare bandages out of her pack and handing them Naruto.

"I see. That explains things; I never knew the telepathy extended so far though" he mused.

He then turned to Tazuna, his lone eye glaring at the man.  
"As for our client here, he should know that lying about the severity of a mission is dangerous not only to himself, but to the ninja's assigned to him. Mr Tazuna, you lied about the severity of this mission. Because of that one of my students has received a serious injury. I'd appreciate it if you told me exactly what were dealing with..."

Tazuna gulped.

* * *

_**o_O  
the anime seriously has me blubbering like the girl my mother wants me to be at the moment.  
Go Cloud ninjas!  
Just seen New Moon: Awsomeness!  
Long live Mandarin!**_

_**Nat.  
xxx**_


	4. Act IV: Hallucination of Kakashi Hatake

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY

* * *

**

**ACT IV  
~ THE HALLUCINATION OF KAKASHI HATAKE ~**

**

* * *

**

"Father! You're bac-" the black haired woman stopped as she took in the sight in front of her.

Her father was carrying a small blonde girl, trying not to aggravate some half-healed wounds on her back and a newer looking gash on her arm. She also had a nasty bruise on the side of her head, just creeping past the hairline of her right temple onto her forehead. An unconscious grey-haired man was being supported between another blonde girl, and a boy with black hair.

The boy seemed fine, but the girl had a slight limp and a bleeding bruise on her cheek.

"Sweet heaven! Father what on earth happened to them?!" she asked in a shocked tone, immediately taking the smaller of the two girls from him. She could tell the older man wasn't as severely injured, and besides, children came first. She summarised these kids were the ninja her father had requested for the journey back, but they couldn't possibly older than twelve or thirteen!

"Um, excuse us, but is there somewhere we can put the old scarecrow till he wakes up? He has chakra exhaustion and it'll take a while for him to wake up…" the second blonde asked carefully.

"Of course dear! Father, show them where the spare room is while I take a look at her!" Tazuna's daughter requested, hurrying towards one of the cupboards for the first aid kit.  
"Sure Tsunami, this way…" he replied, before leading the two ninja down one of the hallways towards the spare room.

After a few moments the sound of thunderous footsteps echoed through the hall and the two ninja appeared back at the door to the living room, the boy in particular looked exceedingly breathless from the effort. He all but scrambled over to the couch where tsunami was applying an antiseptic to the girls arm, closely followed by his team-mate.

"Is Naruto okay, I mean, well, besides the giant gashes and everything?" the second blonde girl asked. Kneeling down next to tsunami and fishing a roll of bandages out of the first aid pack that lay between them.

"I think so, it looks worse than it is. Are you two all right?" Tsunami asked the blonde girl. She had a nasty looking bruise on the side of her face that looked like it hand not long since stopped bleeding. The boy was quiet, and stood staring at the girl on the sofa, so it was impossible to tell.

"I have a few bruises, and I've pulled a fair number of muscles in my leg, but I can heal those up myself with some of the medic seals in the Scarecrow's kunai pouch. Sasuke has a broken arm though, and his ribs aren't being very nice to him either…" the girl trailed off.

Sasuke's eyes snapped towards Ino when he realised what she had just said. He hadn't spoken a word, intending to take care of it himself, so how had she figured it out?!

"Sasuke, I've known you since I was six years old. I may not know you as well as Naruto does, but I'm not blind; you favour your left side too much, and your arm has bruising all over it; and besides, I'm a Yamanaka. I can tell from your brainwaves. Unlike those creeps from yesterday, I know your consciousness very well" she stated. Had Sasuke not know of her clan's techniques, he would have asked if she was a mind reader.

"A broken arm?!" tsunami shrieked in horror.

"It's only a small break" Sasuke argued. "It didn't even break the ski-" he was cut off as the woman all but manhandled him onto the sofa.  
"A broken arm is nothing to be pushed to the side! And don't think I've forgotten about your ribs either!"

Sasuke glared at Ino, who snickered at him in an _its-your-own-fault-for-being-an-idiot_ manner.

* * *

"Look out for the sword Ino!" Naruto squeaked in a panicked voice, rising from her futon to a sitting position. It took several moments for the pain in her arm and her forehead to reach her, and when it did she groaned form the sudden movement.  
She felt dizzy from the yelling now…

"Naruto? You're awake?"

Naruto flipped her head towards the futon next to her own to find Sasuke sitting up. He had bandages around his waist and his left arm was in a sling. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had been through the wars. What had happened while she was unconscious?

"If you want to call it that, everything looks blurry for some reason…" she stated.

It was so strange, everything had been so clear during the fight with Zabuza! Then Ino got hit and something weird happened to her vision. Everything had turned blobby, and she'd been so caught of guard that Zabuza had managed to creep up behind her and send her into obliviousness. Now everything looked like it normally did, but it felt weird.

Like she needed glasses but wasn't wearing any, despite the fact she could see perfectly.

"It's probably because of that hit on the head from Zabuza" Sasuke rationalized.

Naruto thanked the god's he hadn't asked why she'd frozen up like that. Honestly how would she sound? _  
'I-got-freaked-out-because-everything-turned-into-blobs'_ hardly sounded something a sane person would say did it?

"The bandages on you're back need changing..." Sasuke stated warily, glancing at the patch of blood that had soaked through the strips of cloth to some extent. They had nearly healed, but the fight with Zabuza had re-opened them again. He knew the gash on her arm would be gone by tomorrow too.

Naruto gave him a suspicious look, and Sasuke felt his cheeks redden.  
He was thankful for the darkness; if Naruto had seen that she would have made his life miserable.

"S-So they don't get infected before they heal..." he hurriedly added, somehow managing to hide his stutter.

Naruto softened the look of scepticism, but her next words were enough to send non-pleasurable shivers down his spine.  
"Fine, but try anything else and I'll tell Mr. F, Ino and Lazy butt…"

Sasuke tried and failed to suppress a shiver. Forget his father and Ino; Shikamaru would definitely murder his ass. Ever since the Sex-Ed lesson he'd been somewhat more tolerant of Naruto, not that he hadn't before, he just tended to actually stay awake more when she was around. He passed it off as truing to prevent her from doing anything too 'troublesome' but Sasuke knew better.

Shikamaru had only putt effort into one match in the academy, one with him. It had been after a very nasty argument with Naruto (though for all it's severity, he couldn't remember for the life of him what it was about), one that had almost brought her to her second teary outbreak. Shikamaru had completely pummelled his ass into the dirt, going so far as to unveil a premature shadow possession technique.

Sasuke had realised the boy was clearly a dark horse among the school rankings, and decided to tread with caution around him where Naruto was concerned. Shikamaru had never been a particularly good friend of his (that was Naruto's forte), and Sasuke didn't want to risk his wrath. Lazy he may be but Shikamaru had inherited his mothers temper, even if he wasn't as easy to piss of as Yoshino Nara.

"Y-You can do the front, I'm just going to put the antiseptic on!" he hastily reassured her.

Sasuke briefly though that was most likely going to be easier said than done. Even though it was dark, he could clearly make out the shape of her back as she grudgingly removed the current set of bandages. Her skin looked as pale as his own in the darkness, eerily so. He hadn't noticed so clearly before…

Sasuke blamed his hormones, ignoring the niggling voice that told him Naruto was almost too similar to him in instances for it to be coincidence.

He gulped as she handed him a strip of new bandage that she had already held over her front.  
This really wasn't going to be as easy as he had made it out to be was it?

Tch.  
Stupid hormones.

* * *

Naruto stared at the blood belonging to the Hermaphrodite-ish boy that glued itself to her hands like a second skin. She could feel it beginning to harden on her face. She could feel the stunned gazes of Sasuke and Ino on her back. She couldn't look at them, not after giving into that _monster. _She had acted like some sort of rabid animal, like a mindless carnivore…

Even worse, she had enjoyed the rush of inhuman instinct and power, even if she didn't like it, and Sasuke had seen her acting like that…  
There was no way they wouldn't find out about the Kyuubi now, not after what she had just done.

Naruto wasn't sure whether it was the blood or the thought of her friends' possible reactions that made her throw up.  
She didn't really know hat had happened either.

One minuet she had been back to back with Sasuke, both of them getting the flow of the battle back to their side after finally seeing through the storm of needles. The next minuet, ice had been forming over both of them from the ground up. The Kyuubi seemed to have reacted instantly, blasting its sickly chakra trough her already battered skin and dissolving the ice as quickly as it came.

It didn't work for Sasuke though, and the expression of terror she had seen on his face through the water freezing over his face had chilled her to the bone. She had never seen Sasuke truly terrified before, even against Zabuza he had been unnaturally calm. She knew that the expression had been generated from an inescapable death at the hands of the boy of questionable gender.

She didn't remember anything after that but the smells, slimy, biting and tingling sensations that the Kyuubi chakra brought. The smell of fear and blood, the slime of Haku's organs against her fingers, and the gnaw of the Kyuubi chakra on her skin as it burned and healed her wounds.

She was only vaguely aware of herself, and everything had passed in an amazingly clear yet instantaneous haze. Then she was away from the dome of ice, meters from Ino and Tazuna, the hands that held Haku's visible eaten into heart covered in blood and a warm taste in her mouth. The ice had instantly receded, and Sasuke had collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

And then the hermaphrodite really had turned into a victim.

What had she _done? _

Someone's hand rubbed circled at her now healed back, and she felt the bile rise in her throat again. She didn't bother to try holding back and emptied her stomach onto the concrete. Specks of red flesh mocked her from the smelly mixture.

"Feel any better?" Kakashi asked, moving to look her in the eye.

"I-I didn't mean to Kakashi-Sensei! I swear I didn't! It just crept up on me when Sasuke got covered in that ice and everything was so hazy and then… and then… I swear, I didn't mean to!" she all but yelled, panic terror and self-disgust flooding her voice.

"I know Naruto, but you have to calm down, you're still channelling it…" he placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly.

She stared at his mismatched eyes in confusion.  
"But I'm not using it… It's completely gone…"

Kakashi frowned and took a closer look at her eyes. They were red, but lacked the aura of maliciousness they had possessed not ten minuets ago. He squinted at them with his Sharingan for a few moments before his blood chilled.

A dual set of familiar triple swirls stared back at him. They lacked the aura that had earned their reputation from the recent events, but there was no mistaking those eyes.  
The Sharingan.

Why did Naruto have the Sharingan? Naruto want supposed to have the Sharingan.  
Sasuke was supposed to have the Sharingan, as he now did.

When Kakashi woke up that morning he hadn't really expected Sasuke to awaken his Sharingan, let alone Naruto! It was simply illogical! There was no way Naruto could be related to the Uchiha Clan…

Even as the denials entered his mind, Kakashi couldn't help but think of those rumours about his old teacher's supposed lover. Rumours about a woman with hair as striking but completely opposite to that of his red-headed wife. He had never believed them, believing them to be nothing more than the usual unfounded village gossip and that he knew his teacher better than anyone.

He now felt himself wondering how well he had really known the man.

He could see how no-one would have noticed (if this whole fiasco had any credibility) a rampant Sharingan in the girl. She looked nothing like an Uchiha; she was the spitting image of Minato even if the village pointedly ignored that fact. Her face shape was obviously that of a girl's, but Kushina had possessed a similar structure

Similar, but oddly not that similar. It should have been obvious when her memory started improving that she had a different genealogy than what they had expected. If he really concentrated, he noticed she looked nothing like her mother at all.

Kushina had raised the girl for several years before her death, further cementing Naruto's image as her daughter. Since this was the case, she had obviously known Minato had had an affair so why had she never said anything? Maybe he should talk to the girl's sponsor-

Wait a minuet here, wasn't her sponsor Fugaku Uchiha?!

"Kakashi-Sensei? Is it gone?"

He was jerked out of his musings by the sound of her voice. She appeared to be frowning in concentration, worry evident on her face as she did so. He summarised she was trying to suppress the now dormant Kyuubi chakra. He was almost vaguely aware of Sasuke and Ino dashing towards them after watching their exchange.

"Try cutting off all your chakra, you don't want the others to see your eyes right?" he hated lying, but until he got some answers himself he couldn't risk Sasuke or Ino finding out. This was complicated, and amongst other things Ino vehemently hated anything complicated. She would be more than a simple headache.

He didn't even want to start with what could happen if Sasuke found out. More to the point, even if her mother had been a Sharingan possessing Uchiha, she still shouldn't have the Sharingan! He was sure it was a predominantly patriarchal trait. In short, there was no logical reason for Naruto to have the Sharingan, never mind a fully advanced one! It was biologically impossible!

He watched as Naruto's face paled and she instantly focused her concentration with all her effort on completely suppressing her chakra. The black swirls faded from her eyes and the red melted into blue. Her eyes were a bit different now, her pupils weren't nearly as prominent, and seemed to fade into her blue irises much like the pupil-less Hyuuga and Uchiha eyes did.

Ino and Sasuke were beside them only seconds after the black swirls completely disappeared.

* * *

He knew Naruto was hiding something, if Kakashi's unusually jumpy demeanour around her and Ino's increased clinginess was anything to go by. He was aware of her attempts to broach the subject, but she never managed. That frustrated him; if she could trust Ino and Kakashi, couldn't she do the same with him? He knew her far better than the other two did, he should have been the first to know whatever it was she was hiding!

Thunder crashed outside, and the accompaniment of lightning brightened the room. Sasuke was surprised to find Naruto was not in her futon as she should have been. The wind whipped through one of the open windows, the frame snapping against the wall loudly on its hinges.

"Not again!' Sasuke thought to himself as he mad his way around Ino's sleeping form towards the open window. Looking outside he could see a climbing plant of some sort leading up to the roof. Grimacing as the cold rain splattered against his body, he clambered out of the window, and up the climbing plant towards the roof.

Naruto was seated on the roof, her soaked hair plastered against her face and whipped by the wind instead of in her usual pigtails. She seemed to be unaware of the fact that she was soaked to the bone, instead staring at the lightning in the distance crashing to the earth in fascination.

"Why is it that every time there's a thunderstorm, you disappear?" he asked in an exasperated tone as he seated himself beside her.

The tiles were digging into his skin through his soaked pyjamas bottoms. It was freezing! He wondered how Naruto could stand the temperature in her thin vest and under-shorts. He had forgotten his shirt, the house itself being too warm for it, and he suspected the vest wasn't all that substantial.

"I don't know. They just fascinate me. Ever since that first time on the bridge…" she trailed off, presumably lost in the memory of her first thunderstorm; the worst one to hit Konoha in eleven years at the time. The previous one had been during the Kyuubi attack, and it had been much worse due to the beast's presence.

The storm was some distance away from the yet, so Sasuke decided to let her watch the storm for a while before dragging her back inside. He was interested in it himself; Konoha hadn't had such a large thunderstorm since the one when he had found her on the bridge, and the shapes the light made were truly fascinating providing you weren't on the receiving end of one.

He remembered Naruto had been stewing over her adapting memory that time, and it occurred to him she was once again worrying over something. He knees were pulled up to her chest, only her eyes peeing out from over them, and her bare feet were scrunched up, almost clawing into the tiles they were seated on.

"What's wrong this time?" he asked bluntly; there was no beating around the bush with Naruto.  
"Nothing's wrong Sasuke. I just felt like watchi-"  
"Liar. Since when do you use my name?" he countered easily.

She stared at him and he was sure he heard her grumbling curses against her self when she broke his gaze.

"Is this about that red chakra on the bridge?" he asked, deciding she was unlikely to give him any answers unless he pushed for them.

Her head whipped round instantly, eyes widening in alarm.  
"H-How do you know about that?! You were frozen!" she demanded over a crack of thunder.

"I couldn't move but I could see enough" he stated in a reassuring voice.

She seemed to have tensed up even more from his question, and he was left in no doubt that the source of her anxiety was the strange red chakra that had enveloped her during the fight with Haku (as he now appeared to be known as).

"It's nothing. Just leave it alone okay?" she grumbled irritably.

Sasuke was taken aback by her sharp abruptness. She usually saved that sort of tone for the villagers when the glared at her more than was necessary. She had never even used it with Ino, and she avoided using it as much as she could when he was around. Whatever her problem was, it seemed to have her well and truly distraught if she was actually using it on him.

"You suck at lying ad you know it. You're acting like I'm one of those villagers, and you're shaking. You do not shake; tell me what the hell that red stuff was and why it has you so freaked out" he ordered in a voice much louder than his normal one, but still considerably low-key.

She hesitated for a few moments, taken aback by his unusual composed ferocity, before launching into speech. She started off with the familiar opening to the story of the Kyuubi attack, and he was somewhat confused till she informed him the Kyuubi was very much alive and kicking. Then he began to piece things together even as she informed him of the true sequence of events, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

He could easily guess what she was so upset about as she described the true reason for Mizuki's sudden retirement. He felt his anger boil as the nearby storm crashed and flashed in time with his anger.

How could a girl with grades and intelligence equal to his own (almost) be such an idiot?!

He was knelt over her before she had known what hit her, and had her pinned to the tiles. He assumed his Sharingan had activated by the tingling sensation in his eyes and by her stunned expression. He noticed her eyes looked a bit different, but not enough to give it much thought.

"Are you such an idiot that your going to start believing those close minded bigots?" he hissed at her, gaining a bewildered expression from the girl, before it turned to the determination he was so used to seeing, though it was traced with gratefulness.

"Of course not, I just felt bad about Haku" she snorted defiantly, voice softening with the Ice boy's name.  
The softness did not last long and was soon replaced by a familiar grin.

"Are you going to let me up now or are you trying to say something?" she asked.

It was only then that he realised their close proximity, and he found himself unable to move. Whether this was because of the embarrassment or the fact he didn't actually want to move was not something he could readily define, and he was at a loss for what to do. He found himself staring at her eyes again, and noted the black of her pupils bleeding into her irises.

Her irises were still bright blue, and were easily distinguishable; it was only upon a close inspection the change would be noticeable. He traced past one of her eyes with one had, fingertips barley brushing her skin. The sensation was enough to make his breath hitch in the back of his throat for a few moments before he lost all sense of reasoning and slammed his mouth onto hers.

Something told him this was a bad idea but Sasuke had never been good at listening to advice, even when it was his own.

He was surprised to find her kissing back, sitting up for better reach and fisting her hands into his hair. His hands found her waist awkwardly as her ran his tongue over her bottom lip with some trepidation. He had always found Kiba's jabber on how to kiss a girl properly to be of little interest back in in the academy, but he was wishing he had paid attention.

All he had to go on now was a couple of pages of Icha Icha he and Naruto had managed to read over Kakashi's shoulder before he caught on and snapped the book shut.  
Some closet pervert he was…

In any case, the squeaks emitting from the girl beneath him told him he wasn't doing too badly for his first voluntary attempt at kissing. He was so wrapped up in his concerns of doing things properly he failed to notice the manic gleam poking out of one of Naruto's half parted eyes. She pushed herself up, pushing her tongue into his mouth without hesitation as she forced him into a sitting position.

When he finally got back to the matter at hand she had straddled him, and his hands were running over the skin of her lower back and stomach beneath that flimsy vest. He was itching to move the hand running over her stomach a tad higher, but the rational part of his mind had regained control, and was demanding he stop before he ruined a good thing (he has terrified he would bite her tongue or something equally disastrous).

They parted breathlessly, each staring at the other in stunned amazement, releasing their hands from hair and clothing.

"I have no idea what that was, but that was more fun than watching Ino drive Itachi up the wall!" Naruto exclaimed less loudly than normal, presumably due to the slight lack of air moments before.

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement as he secretly patted himself on the back.

* * *

"Hey Sasuke, what was that giant shuriken I turned into with the other one underneath it when we first fought Zabuza called?" Naruto asked, scratching the non-inky end of the calligraphy brush. Sasuke and Ino both dropped their chopsticks in shock.

They were a few hours from the village, and had stopped to have something to eat. Naruto had take up the job of writing up the main mission report (along with her personal one) as usual, but this was a definite first. Naruto had not forgotten a word of the most meaningless conversations in years, never mind ninja techniques. It was why they gave her the main report so often.

"You can't remember? That's impossible! You remember everything!" Ino objected loudly around a mouth full of rice.

Sasuke dodged a few stray grains with a look of revulsion.  
"Say it, don't spray it" he reprimanded.

Ino ignored him and continued to harass her friend.  
"How can you forget? You haven't forgotten anything since your memory levelled-up!" she protested.

Naruto looked just as confused."Its like I'm not using it right; I can envision it, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called! It's like there's something blocking me from remembering it fully" she complained loudly; despite her initial worries she had come to rely on her improved memory more than she had originally thought.

Sasuke was giving a curious gaze, and Kakashi knew he would have to say something to keep him from connecting too many dots; not that he knew what those dots were, but there was no harm in being cautious. Especially when it came to Naruto.

"It's probably an after effect of using the Kyuubi's chakra, using that much probably messed up your senses somewhat. I doubt it's anything to worry about, but I'll ask the Hokage for his opinion when I hand in the report" he explained quickly, but not too quickly to be noticeable.

It wasn't even a lie; Naruto had been having some trouble with her aim and hearing since the incident on the bridge. For all he knew, it may have had an effect t on her supposed Sharingan as well.

"Yeah whatever, can someone answer the question for me?!" Naruto yelled, loosing her patience. Sasuke took pity on her and seated himself next to her, peering at what she had already written. After a few glances he snorted with laughter - gaining a glance from one of Ino's ever watchful eyes.

"Before you worry about the names of techniques try getting the clients name right; it's Tazuna, not Tarawa, and those two Chunin didn't use poison gas: they used poison claws. You forgot getting your back getting clawed up" he stated.

Naruto gave him a bug eyed look before turning back to the scroll with a frantic expression. Her eyes scanned her untidy scrawl and she let out a cry of horror at the obvious mistakes she had unwittingly made.

"Holy crap, you're right! I guess scarecrow was right on the mark!" she exclaimed, tearing the end of parchment off of the scroll.  
She'd have to start all over again!Getting to that stage had taken almost an hour with all the details she'd had to put in, even if a lot of them were incorrect!

"You can look over my version, it might jog your memory" Sasuke stated, fishing through his backpack for his own scroll.

Ino's jaw dropped at the rare example of… niceness.

Since when did Sasuke help anyone out voluntarily? Even with Naruto, he'd never offered his aid with such ease. It was usually someone else's suggestion; with Naruto he'd never done otherwise, but he'd always seem slightly disgruntled (you had to really force him to help anyone else, especially if they didn't speak on a regular basis). He wasn't making a single complaint though!

Ino's match-making senses were tingling, and they had never failed her yet. Without being noticed, she pushed out her chakra from her mind towards her two team-mates, their heads bent close together as they went over the reports.

Naruto's chakra was twitching wildly, as it did whenever she was particularly satisfied about something, but there was something else… damn, she hated trying to read Naruto's chakra consciousness. It was always so difficult to read. She tried reading her friend expression at the same time, despite her inproficiencey in the art; she was blushing, but she had been doing that for a while now.

Then she saw it; Naruto was holding her left had up to her neck, bent at the elbow that rested on her knee. Her thumbnail was scraping the one on her pinkie! She was embarrassed, nervous about being so close to Sasuke. She didn't have to look at Sasuke to know that something had happened again, but when?

Damn it, why was she never present for all these developments?! What was the point of setting them up if she didn't get to see the results? Itachi would be so disappointed at her inability to get decent blackmail on Sasuke! She had to find out what had happened!

"Sasuke, are you going to finish that?" she asked, motioning towards his abandoned lunch with her chopsticks.

"No… No! It was a white _rabbit_, not a _stoat_!"  
"I swear, as soon as I find out how I'm going to murder that stinking deranged ball of fuzz myself… teach him to mess with my brain…" Naruto grumbled, crossing out yet another sentence.

"So you don't mind if I eat it?" Ino asked innocently, still probing his chakra with her own. She sensed irritation, and what she could only describe as a male ego trying to prove something. So he didn't like her interrupting him and Naruto…  
But why?!

"Go ahead…"

Kakashi and Ino both dropped their chopsticks. Sasuke never shared his food with anyone, not eve Naruto had gained that right! Ino held a silent victory dance in her private consciousness. That and the sudden helpful phase was more than enough evidence to name and same him, coupled with her chakra readings of course.  
Itachi was going to lap this up!

"Sasuke, was that hunter ninja a boy or a girl?" Naruto of them had a definite answer for that question, much to the blonde girl's annoyance. Ino was so busy musing over the hunter ninja's gender, she almost didn't notice Naruto's use of Sasuke name instead of the usual _'Duck-Butt-Head'_

* * *

"Alright, what was with the nail scratching earlier?" Ino asked bluntly as she followed Naruto into her apartment.

Sasuke had gone on ahead to his own house, and Ino had decided to take the opportunity to bully Naruto into spilling the beans. Naruto froze mid step and swore.  
"Crap, you saw that?!"

Her friend smirked at her, and Naruto grumbled some more curse words to herself. She knew about her nervous habits thanks to Ino, but controlling them was another thing entirely. She masked her chakra from Ino well enough, but her physical quirks still needed work before they could be considered Yamanaka proof.

"So? What happened to make you so twitchy?" Ino asked, flicking the switch on the kettle.

Naruto rummaged through her wardrobe on the other side of the room for some clean clothes. The raggedy black shirt and orange shorts made an appearance (Ino suppressed the urge to object to this choice of clothing), and Naruto began to mumble something as she pulled her jacket over her head and kicked of her trousers.

"I flold… kruuugi…mrafe kout…"  
"What? I can't hear you" Ino frowned, pouring some of the boiling water into waiting containers of dehydrated noodles.

Naruto lost her patience with the jacket, and decided to unzip it like normal people. She pulled on the black shorts over her bandages and pulled a belt through her shorts before she moved to snatch the ramen from the countertop. Ino snatched it out of her way before she could lay her hands on it.

"No way, not till you tell me what you just said" she smirked.  
"I hate you"  
"Uh huh, sure you do, so do you want the ramen or not?"

Naruto grumbled a few well chosen swears and insults before quietly going into her little adventure on the roof with Sasuke (keeping the description fairly muted), refusing to meet her friends gaze. Ino squealed and jumped up and down and made a whole number of girlish noises Naruto wouldn't have made over her cold, dead body.

"I knew it! I knew it!" she yelled joyfully, all but jumping on the second blonde who was attempting to eat her lukewarm noodle dish.

"If you mention one word of this to Itachi, I'll tell him it was you who stole his favourite t-shirt so you could try casting Iwan voodoo on it to make him chase you" she stated nonchalantly, trying to angle the noodles towards her mouth despite her friend's interference.  
Ino stared at her in horror.

"But that was your idea!" she objected, releasing her friend.  
"I know, but you didn't have to listen to me did you?" she grinned, finally munching on the now-cold noodles.  
"I hate you"  
"Love you too Ino"

* * *

Itachi knew something had happened on his brother's first C-Rank the minuet he walked through the door. He had a demeanour that could not be associated with the mission's disastrous success - as he was later to be told of. No, something more personal had occurred, and Itachi was itching to find out what it was.

He had a few ideas, and assumed Sasuke's purple-obsessed team-mate would have some form of information for him. At least, she would if Naruto didn't blackmail her first (going by their absence, he though it safe to assume she had done just that).

His father's wary gaze upon his youngest sibling during dinner told him he was not the only one who had noticed. Alarm bells blared through his mind when Sasuke relented the last of the rice balls to him instead of causing an argument equivalent to the third ninja war.

"I'm assuming you know about it then?" he asked cryptically, picking the bones out of his fish.  
They desperately needed to look into getting a housekeeper - this inability to cook something edible was going from sublime to ridiculous.

"It? Do you mean the…" Sasuke paused, frowning in concentration. Itachi mentally congratulated Sasuke on his caution concerning Naruto's fuzzy tenant.  
It wouldn't do for him to be revealing the subject openly.

"Are you talking about the stinking deranged ball of fuzz?" Sasuke asked.

Even their father managed to look alarmed by the description of the Kyuubi. Sasuke sensed their surprise and quickly ascertained his wording.  
"Her words, not mine!"

"And? How did you take this news?" their father asked seriously. "I hope you didn't do anything ras-"  
"No! It was fine! I mean, its still Naruto, and Ino would have killed me so…" he trailed off in embarrassment.

It was the rambling that caught the attention of his two relatives, it was the bright red that stained his face before he launched into his drabble that alerted them. Itachi didn't know whether he should be happy his brother was finally making a move, or be worried about his father's unusually pale face.

Sasuke din not seem to notice this and continued to give an edited account of the mission (he could only give a brief account due to the client confidentiality clause that encompassed all mission orders). Fugaku had been alarmed by the description of the wounds his ward had received on her back, but Sasuke had quickly reassured him they were nothing more than an irritating scratch now.

"Oh, and Naruto completely messed up the mission report" he added nonchalantly.

He was warily poking his chopsticks against gelatinous substance that was supposed to be a type of chilled soup. It wobbled, and it looked like Sasuke was seriously doubting the thing was fit for human consumption. Itachi swore to himself he would look into a house keeper before the week had ended (it was a Sunday).

"I fail to see how" their father replied, stating his confusion.

"She forgot the names of the techniques, or mixed stuff up. She even got the name of the client wrong. It was so weird. She normally remembers everything as well as Itachi…" he trailed off, clearly pondering the strange new turn of events.

"Did she have any idea as to why?" their father asked far too alarmingly cautiously for Itachi's comfort.

Sasuke shook his head.  
"She just said it was like something was blocking her from remembering completely, even though she had a vague idea of how things went. Kakashi said it was probably from using the Kyuubi's chakra so much…" he trailed off once again.

Itachi felt more alarm bells ringing; the memory situation was hauntingly reminiscent of the time Shisui had activated his Sharingan, and Sasuke was probably noting the same thing to a lesser extent; he had been young when it had happened, but he had been old enough for the situation to strike him as familiar. Itachi glanced a look at their father and felt his suspicions rising at the sight of his paling face, furrowed brow, and shock-parted lips.

A loud knock at the door distracted them.  
"Sasuke, would you mind getting that?" Fugaku asked in his usual clam manner.

Sasuke eagerly left the table, desperate to avoid the so called 'meal' as much as possible. Before his elder brother could confront their father about the sudden revelation, Sasuke returned with a familiar grey-haired man.

"Kakashi-Senpai" Itachi greeted.  
"Yo, man-lady!" the man greeted cheerfully in reply.

Itachi twitched at the mention of the stupid nick-name Naruto used (which she thankfully appeared to be growing out of). Kakashi chuckled at his expression.

"Get on with it scarecrow" Sasuke and Kakashi found their positions to be reversed.  
"Don't be so rude Sasuke, hello Kakashi"  
"what? Naruto and Ino get away with it…"

A glare from Fugaku silenced the younger of his two sons.  
"Not that this banter isn't amusing, but I came to speak with you about your blonde ward Mr. Uchiha" kasha stated, directing his attention to Fugaku.

"I assume this is about the incident with the Kyuubi during the recent mission?" he asked suspiciously.  
"That and another matter I believe needs to be brought to your attention" he stated.

He seemed to communicate something to the eldest of the Uchihas through his gaze, but despite rapidly developing theories, Itachi had no clue as to what he could possibly be trying to say. Sasuke seemed utterly lost, to say the least.

"I see, then let us continue this discussion in my office." he said after a long pause.  
"Itachi, I'll leave Sasuke's Sharingan training up to you for the time being" he instructed, getting up from his seat.

Itachi noted this as one of the few moments he had desperately wanted to strangle his father, but he could hardly say no. Especially not when Sasuke looked so enthralled with the prospect (they had even less time to train together now that he too had graduated). He silently vowed to bully the information out of his father as he watched the man retreating to his study with his old ANBU senior.

* * *

Kakashi and Fugaku did not emerge from the former's office until long after Naruto and Ino arrived. Itachi was being driven up the wall by his father's secrecy so much that he missed one of his targets - earning a wide eyed look form the group of Genin.

The training eventually digressed into a game of Oniigoko, which Ino prevailed at rather irritatingly. Even Itachi had a certain degree of trouble keeping way from the girl. Itachi made a mental not to thank the girl for the impromptu suggestion after one opportunity raised itself however.

He had hidden himself directly across from Naruto. The girl had spotted this and waved cheerfully. He had no idea what prompted him to do so, but he placed an illusion over his eyes as he activated his Sharingan and focused on the girl hiding in the tree branches on the other side of the clearing.

The concentrated globs of chakra building up behind her eyes spoke volumes; not only did Naruto have the Sharingan, but she had a fully evolved one. Several question clicked into place regarding the girls memory, but the new information raise a great many more as to why she had the bloodline in the first place.

* * *

**_I just bought a book of Shakespeare's sonnets, and I swear to god some of them are SasuNaru/NaruSasu tributes._**

**_Like 120, i know it's a freindship one not love, but it fits them soo well.  
116 is just sweet, and fits with anyone, but 118-119 fit them too.  
117 is like a sick twisted kind of love from sasukes point of view._**

**__**

...I think I'll have to control my Shakespeare obsession somewhat from now on. It's inspiring fanfic ideas, and I have too many that I don't update as it is.  
Plus they always seem to make me cry for some reason...

**_Though maybe I could scrawl out a oneshot or two...  
No! Bad thoughts!_**

**_Hoped you liked the chapter Duckies.  
Nat.  
xxx_**


	5. Act V: Soul Searching?

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY

* * *

**

**ACT V  
~ SOUL-SEARCHING ~**

* * *

"Do you think he'll ever show up on time?" Naruto asked.

They were waiting for the resident scarecrow to show up for their usual mission. Ino was seated on the pavement, head leant against the railings as she caught up on lost sleep from the night before; apparently she and her brother had been given a training session with Shikamaru and Choji. Naruto wondered what kind of training they'd been put through; while Ino didn't have anywhere near as much stamina as she did, she easily had enough to rival her two cousins. Naruto hadn't seen her friend this exhausted in a while.

Several weeks had passed since the mission to wave, and they had been taking D-Ranks again (much to their irritation), and were supposed to be taking a C-Rank today. Kakashi had been oddly wary about taking the higher ranked missions.

"Will there ever be a meal fit for human consumption in my house?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.  
"When Itachi finally gets around to hiring a housekeeper; he's been grumbling about it for weeks now" Naruto answered anyway.

Sasuke glared. Naruto snickered before resuming a tense silence between them.

Naruto (not that she would ever admit it) was confused; before the little encounter on Tazuna's roof, she had been steadily growing aware of Sasuke; in particular, his attitude around her. He had been talking more, and had been easier to convince into doing things. He had been much more flustered than he should have been after the meddling of a certain pair (oh yes, she knew that kiss at the dinner before their test had been Ino's - and Itachi's - doing).

Strangely enough, she had found herself becoming much more aware of his presence. She had been so preoccupied with his changing attitude, she hadn't noticed herself being more and more interested in Sasuke as a whole - in short, she was discovering what his fan girls found so appealing. She hidden it well (though not well enough to avoid Ino's notice), but it had unnerved her.

She was no sappy fan girl thank you very much. Her inability to stand flower arrangement in any scenario other than helping out at the Yamanaka flower shop proved that, as well as her dislike of make up, the disgusting frilly underwear the shops seemed insistent on selling (thank god for under-shorts), and other such girly activities. It was safe to say any concept of romance had failed to reach her notice unless it came in the form of a Porn book.

She had looked through her sub-standard collection of smut for some sort of idea on how to proceed (Ino would never let her live it down if she asked for help), but had found the novels suitably unhelpful. That meant she was venturing into dreadfully uncharted waters. She had almost died from shock and… eagerness of all the things… when Sasuke had bought up the need to change her bandages the first night they'd spent at Tazuna's house!

Then had come their little make out session on the roof! What was she supposed to do about that? Was there supposed to be this long, annoying, awkward lack of interaction between them? The porn books always had the heroine happily jumping on the man's the next day, or simply blushing when he hugged her. There was never such a lack of communication!

Naruto assumed this meant Sasuke felt no concern over the matter, or was just as baffled as she was. She believed the former to be an incorrect hypothesis as he had pushed her out of the way of some falling scaffolding and broken his arm doing so a few D-Ranks back. So that left bafflement; Naruto found this much more likely seeing he interacted with very few people.

Besides herself, Ino, Kakashi, and his family, the only people he had something of a relationship were the officials in charge of mission hand-outs and a strange paranoid-rivalry with the other boys from their graduating class, particularly Shikamaru. He completely ignored everyone else. This allowed her to make a safe assumption that Sasuke had absolutely no clue as how to proceed.

Naruto screamed curses behind her silent façade.

Ino yawned, starching her arms, before falling back to sleep, leaving her two team-mates to wait for their lazy teacher to show up in a frustrating stalemate.

* * *

Fugaku stared at his wife's grave marker intently. He wished she was still here to tell him what he was supposed to do; but if she was still here he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

Kakashi's report had confirmed what he had suspected for years, but ignored it every time things seemed as if they were to suddenly turn topsy-turvy.

Well, now they were definitely topsy-turvy and he had no-one to blame for his situation but himself. He should have made things clear from the beginning, but factors in play at the time had meant Naruto's lineage be hidden form everyone, even the Hokage.

He had never expected the girl to awaken the Sharingan; yes, her mother had carried the bloodline, but it was passed on through the male line. He had never prepared any sort of explanation for this scenario; he wasn't quite sure why he was in this scenario to begin with.

He'd noticed the obvious signs of the cursed Uchiha eyes in the girl; the improvement in memory was a dead giveaway to he who knew whose DNA had formed her own.

He'd had the gall to remain oblivious until Kakashi had carefully, yet bluntly asked why two, not one, of his pupils had manifested the swirling red irises. He'd had to tell Kakashi the whole truth then, despite his wishes to take the truth to his grave.

After the man had left (after swearing to secrecy even from the Hokage) he'd taken the time to look for those tell-tale globs of thick chakra behind the irises. Only a Sharingan user could possess those bubbles of chakra - waiting for activation - and only another Uchiha could see them. It left him in no doubt as to her possession of the bloodline, and he wished he knew why.

But more worrying than her inheritance was the rapidly progressing relationship his youngest son insisted on pursuing with her.

That was another scenario that had not figured into his calculations; he had encouraged the friendship between them, of course he would - they were closer than they were aware of, but not for it to become a romantic one.

He supposed he could have just told the three of their exact relation ship in the beginning, but the dogs of Iwa and Kumo had been sniffing around, far to interested in Naruto's resemblance to her father to allow her second DNA input to be considered (let alone identified) .

They had been taken care of quickly, and none but the Hokage had noticed their presence (and of course, the third lord was far more concerned they should discover her jinchuriki status).

In any case, revealing everything would have been far too risky, and he didn't particularly believe the villagers would react well to the news. Danzou alone would have a field day with the information; he could hear him talking of how useful a Sharingan-wielding jinchuriki of Hokage descent could be to the village now…

So he stayed silent as he was known to be, taking her on as his ward; a gesture of kindness to those who had known his closest friend, and a gesture of duty to the villagers. It had been perfect, he could keep a close eye on her, and she was given the opportunity to unwittingly get to know here family.

And now, thanks to those infuriating biological tendencies known as hormones, it was falling around his ears faster than he could keep up with. He could not come out and directly forbid the two from pursuing a relationship; unwanted questions would be raised.

The best he could do was warn them of possible heartbreak and broken friendship (well, Sasuke he could warn - Naruto wouldn't even let him start those sort of conversations), and try to keep Itachi (and his blond cohort) from meddling when possible. Quite frankly, he had no idea what course of action he was supposed to take from now on.

"I've turned things into a right and proper mess, haven't I Mikoto?" he asked the stone memorial in front of him.  
He received no reply from his wife, already eleven years gone. The sound of footsteps behind him diverted his attention to the priest.

"It's good to see you again Mr. Uchiha" he greeted, a smile on his pruneish face.

Fugaku greeted the man with an incline of his head.  
"As to you Hoshi-Sama."

"Worries about your young ward again?" the wizened man asked.

Fugaku gave the man a puzzled look.  
"I doubt you realize it, but every time something over Naruto concerns you, you come visiting your wife" he explained in his kind manner.

Fugaku was shocked that the man had picked up on what he was stressing over, but even more concerned by the fact this seemed a regular occurrence. He scolded himself; the priest had always been very observant of the going on amongst his shrines. There was no need to worry.

"It's almost as if you seek her approval instead of guidance over the matters concerning that child" the old man continued, lighting an incense stick and clasping his wrinkled hands together in prayer.

"Pardon?"

Fugaku was stunned; he had known of the priest's observant nature, but he was beginning to wonder how much the ancient, hobbling, holy man could see.  
"An old mans rambling Mr. Uchiha, think nothing of it" the man smiled

He finished his small prayer before hobbling away to do the same thing on, how ironically, Kushina's grave. Fugaku could think of nothing else as he walked the short route back to his home, his thoughts no clearer than when he arrived.

* * *

Sasuke stomped through the streets of Konoha, scaring small academy students and civilians from his path.  
He had never been in as foul a mood as he had today.

He had gone to the meeting point with every intention of confessing to Naruto properly and ending this stupid stalemate, only for Ino to arrive early. Ino had no place in overhearing him doing so _un-Sasuke-ish_ as confessing to a not-a-girl.

True she had been sleeping for most of the time, but Ino has some sort of crazy match-makers radar that would have immediately woken her, and Ino was far at masking the state of her chakra (which would have fluctuated on waking) than he was at detecting it. So he had been forced to endure yet another awkward silence in Naruto's company.

He would not delude himself into believing Naruto would have any clue as to how to proceed; maybe she'd know they weren't supposed to be ignoring each other, but she wouldn't know how to fix that. Her experience with romance was worse than his own, only present in he books of smut. Her few fan boys had been too scared of being castrated during confession they'd avoided it altogether, choosing to admire her from a distance.

At least his fan girls had been brave enough to approach him, so he had some sort of idea of how confessions were _supposed_ to go. Then again, he had never been the one to do the actual confessing before. Was it supposed to be so nerve-wracking? What is rejected him?! He felt a brief (_very_ brief) miniscule smidgen of pity for all the girls' he'd bluntly to 'buzz off' during his days at the academy. They had made it look easy, but he was beginning to admire their idiotic courage.

Even worse: as soon as Kakashi had turned up (well past four hours late!) to tell them they wouldn't be getting any missions for the rest of the week for their recent hard work, Naruto had darted off to god knows where faster than a criminal from a crime scene.

As he contemplated all this, a warning of sorts from his father floated to the forefront of his thoughts. He had been surprised when his father had stopped him before heading to the teams usual meeting point; just because Kakashi was late, his father saw no reason as to why he should adopt the same habit.

'_This relationship of yours with Naruto__… T__read carefully with it. If it doesn__'__t turn out how you envision it to, you__'__ll loose more than her friendship__'_

Talk about being cryptic. If he had wanted to give him the _'__break-my-daughter__'__s-heart-and-suffer-painfully__'_speech in place of her biological father (whoever he may be), he should have just said so! It would have been a whole lot easier to understand than his cryptic crap about loosing envisions or whatever.

He was walked past the entrance to the cemetery, feeling too out of sorts to visit his mother for once, but halted his steps when a loud familiar voice rang over the breeze.  
"Argh! Your son is stupid Mrs. U! Why cant he just talk to me and be done with it! He _knows_ I don't get this sort of girly crap!"

Sasuke twitched once before turning on his heel and darting towards the cemetery entrance with full speed.

* * *

Naruto had all but leaf-flickered away from the meeting point; such was her speed to get away. She was half along the street leading to the cemetery before she had realized what she was actually doing; what on earth was she thinking?! She was supposed to be confronting the stupid, duck-ass haired, idiotic, stubborn, brother complex-d, pride drenched-

In any case, she was not supposed to be running away! Naruto Uzumaki did not run away! Ever! It was a completely foreign concept to her; Sasuke had been forced to intervene more than once when she had picked fights with that stupid white-eyed boy from the senior year in the academy because of this trait. So why was she running away like some frightened girl?!

Sasuke would probably snort and tell her because she was a girl; this thought only severed to irritate her further. Her agitation and confusion found her in the cemetery. She had decided to visit her mother, hoping the act would do something towards clearing her jumbled thoughts, when another grave caught her sight; Mikoto Uchiha.

Her brain chose that moment to remind her that she had never properly introduced herself to Sasuke's mother - she simply lit an incense stick and wished her well in whatever she was doing in the afterlife or reincarnation or whatever dead people did after they died.  
For some reason, that sharply stung at her heartstrings.

After obtaining permission form the Priest (who had seemed unusually happily saddened by her request), she had hurried to light the incense, cursing herself for not bringing any sort of offering other than the leftover tomatoes from her lunch. Feeling a need to offer something as a form of apology, she fished them from her lunch pack and laid them on the small memorial before slapping her hands together in prayer.

Naruto then found herself presented with the problem of what to actually say to this woman she had never met.

'_Err, hi… aw crud this is awkward…Urgh… I__'__m Naruto Uzumaki, and I__'__ve been making random offerings and stuff even though I__'__ve never met you or anything with Sasuke for… well, since… Urgh, I don__'__t know alright?! I can__'__t remember anymore! Stupid Kyuubi messing with my brain or whatever. I left tomatoes! And… err… __'_

Naruto frowned, trying to come up with something to make the years-late introduction less insulting; Naruto was ashamed for not doing so sooner. It was only polite to introduce to your best-friend-kind-of-person's mother, even if they were a marble sticky-uppy pillar.

'_Oh for the love of… I don__'__t even know why I__'__m talking to you! I don__'__t even know what you look like!__'_ she wailed internally; it was true that she had never seen a proper photo of Sasuke's mother.

She had seen the family photo in the living room - Itachi looking irritated by his one-year-old brother tugging painfully on his ponytail from his mothers arms (the name perma-frown didn't even begin to cover Mr. U's gloomy expression). She appeared to be smiling, but the photo was blurred from Sasuke's animated tugging and Itachi's aggravated reaction. Making out the woman's exact features was somewhat difficult, and Naruto had never seen another picture of Mikoto Uchiha.

Itachi had told both she and Sasuke (when questioned, he too had been puzzled) that their father had been on the verge of suicide after their mother died; he had been devoted to her more so than he had been to the clan, which had been of a greater level than his loyalty to the Hokage at the time. He had removed most of the pictures so as to avoid triggering painful memories.

She had never questioned it, but now that she was actually holding a one-way conversation with Sasuke's mother she wished she knew what she looked like.

'_Well, not that it matters I guess, I just figured I__'__d actually introduce myself since I leave you weird food with Sasuke so often; stupid idiot__'__s still terrified of ghosts, I know he is. He won__'__t set a foot inside without someone else. Stupid scardey stubborn git! He__'__s such a wimp sometimes! Who kisses someone like that and just ignores them afterwards?! Who freaking does that? Why are guys such wimps?! Stupid Duck-Ass-Haired stubborn- never mind… You__'__re a woman, or were, whatever! You understand me right?__'_

Mikoto Uchiha remained silent. Naruto maintained a similar silence before grabbing hold of her blonde hair and yanking hard pigtails in frustration.

"Argh! Your son is stupid Mrs. U! Why can't he just talk to me and be done with it! He _knows_ I don't get this sort of girly crap!" she complained loudly, gaining a chuckle from the Priest several rows over.

"I mean it! If he doesn't say something soon I'll explode! Icha Icha is no use to me right now! I have no clue how to handle this, and I'd rather do something really… not fun than ask the matchmaking piggy for help! That Stupid scardey-"

"Finish that sentence, and I swear to god I really will hit you" a familiar voice threatened jokingly.

Naruto shrieked and whirled round to find a breathless Sasuke standing behind her, hands on knees as he bent over taking in deep gulps of air. Unfazed that he had more than likely overhear her one-sided conversation, she made an attempt at a normal greeting.

"You're out of breath, you slacking your training duck-butt?" she snickered, earning a weary glare from Sasuke.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that? I have a name y'know"  
"Maybe…" she replied vaguely.  
'…_Depends if you__'__re going to grow a backbone and tell me what the hell that make-out was all about!__'_

Sasuke seemed to find this confusing if the silence once again generating itself between them was anything to go by. Naruto finished the rest of her prayer in silence, ignoring Sasuke's curious gaze towards the tomatoes on his mother's headstone. She finished the prayer with a bow of her head, and turned to leave once again.

She had pondered the idea of confronting herself, but the idea terrified far worse than her lodger ever could. Besides, he was the one who kissed her! Sure, she'd gone along with it and had some fun of her own, but he was the original instigator. It was, therefore, his responsibility to clear the air.

"Where are you going?" he asked startled, seemingly aware she was leaving.  
"Got to tell the Priest I'm all done before I head home don't I?" she replied in a blasé manner.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she should just forget the whole thing; she would be amazed if he actually buried his pride and explained his actions for once. Usually she knew him well enough to accurately guess, but not this time.

She ad Sasuke were similar in many ways: they both liked tomatoes, they were both stubborn, neither of them had their mothers in their lives, both were romantically stunted, and neither liked to loose. The key difference was pride, Naruto may have had as much pride as he had, but she was willing to put it aside when the situation desperately counted for it.

But this time was different - besides being more than their usual challenges or arguments, she had a feeling getting involved with each other would cause problems further down the line.

Naruto had never ignored her instincts before, except when it came to Sasuke. Something about him set them haywire, at first with familiarity, and now something crush-like had joined the mix and her instincts were screaming at her that it was wrong. She had no idea why, but Sasuke's personality aside this was one of her main reservations. Her instincts had not often let her down, and thus she paid attention to them.

Except when it came to Sasuke.

She would be more than willing to ignore them for that stupid scardey Sasuke; if only he would grow a backbone and explain things to her!

"Oi idiot, wait!" he yelled, his footsteps thudding and crunching on the gravel path as he sprinted to catch up with her.  
"What?" Naruto asked when he turned her around by the shoulder.  
"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked, voice lacking its usual cocky air.

If Naruto had been what Sasuke considered a _'__Girl-like Girl__'_ she would have bowed down instantly, providing she had not fainted. But Naruto was not a _'__girl-like girl__'_, she was a _'__Not-A-Girl__'__; _and so she remained perplexed. Whether it was genuine or false was open to debate.

"I'm not-"  
"Yes you are! You run of to god-knows where after the team meetings and you've barley spoken to me since the wave mission!"

Alright, so she probably was sort-of avoiding him. Without the sort of.  
But it was his fault in the first place!

"We made-out on a roof and you expect me to be acting normally? You know I don't understand the girly stuff like that! And what good are porn books for romance? Useless! Absolutely useless!" she vented, finally having someone to vent this to without worry of probable-blackmail.

Plus she could actually get a reply (Sasuke's mother was probably a very nice lady, but she was kind of dead. That didn't work out so well for the advice-giving scenario).

"I had no idea what I was supposed to do and like hell I was going to tell Ino, unless you wanted Itachi teasing you to hell and back, and you were going back to the cave-man days with the grunting and ignoring yourself mister! So tell me now; can you blame for freaking out just a tiny little bit?!"

Sasuke stared wide eyed at the shorter girl who was now taking several deep breaths of air.

"You could have asked Ayame…" he ventured delicately, in a non-patronizing tone.

She stared at him before grumbling what sounded like some of her more vibrant swear words to herself. The ramen girl would have been happy to offer advice, and gave it whether it was needed or not; Sasuke suspected he had Ino and Itachi to thank for that since Ayame was always stating that he would be perfect for the blonde, and that had _'__match-maker__'_written all over it.

He wasn't complaining, but honestly!  
Did no one think they could work this out by themselves?  
Speaking of working things out…

"It's not... Well… I don't talk to girls half the time Naruto! And don't beat on me for the makeing-out, you were straddling me!" he retorted after some mumbling.

Wait, he wasn't supposed to be trying to place the blame here was he? That sounded wrong somehow. He was supposed to doing something confession-ish wasn't he? He didn't talk to girls, but didn't they get mad when you yelled at them with this sort of stuff?

He'd seen Kiba trying to ask Sakura on a date from one end of the park to the other and things hadn't turned out so well…  
That punch had looked painful.

Oh dear god, was he using Kiba as a Dating-Role Model? No!  
Don't think about anything Kiba would do! That was just asking for trouble!

"…oh yeah, guess I forgot that part" Naruto noted by surprise.

Then again, Naruto wasn't exactly a girl…  
Maybe the Kiba approach would work with her?  
No, he wouldn't risk it.  
Besides being to risky, he refused to have Kiba as a dating role model!

"Naruto I-"

He froze. Why were no words coming out of his mouth? There were supposed to be two more words to his sentence! Had awakening the Sharingan caused his brain to malfunction? He had a second cousin who'd blown their brain up activating it - too distant a relative for his brain to handle it…

It was almost as if his body was trying to stop him. _'__Stupid hypocrite body! Aren__'__t your hormones causing this mess in the first place? __Filthy hypocrite!__'_

Sasuke was vaguely aware he was gawping like a gawping fish and Naruto was beginning to be slightly weirded out. That wasn't part of his plan! God where were his fan girls when they may actually be useful for once? All he'd have to do was smirk and they'd gladly share notes! Stupid useless fan girls!

"I… err, I think, no, I do…"

Naruto was shuffling nervously as if stuck between a rock and a hard place; he was obviously worrying her with the gawping, but said gawping was likely scaring the creeps out of her.

"Screw it" he stated to himself.

He took a step towards the blonde girl and placing a hand behind the back of her head, pulled her lips towards his own with a fair amount of enthusiasm. He made no further moves to deepen it; this was supposed to be a translation of Sasuke's-stunted-social-ability into the more commonly used _'__I like you, please go out with me__'_.

He released her and did his best to give a pointed look that asked for an answer. Naruto seemed somewhat dazed for a few moments but the haze was soon shaken from her mind when she slapped her hands to her flaming cheeks.

"If you even dare to go soft on me during training I will kick your ass to Kumogakure and back" she stated pointedly.

Sasuke took this as a yes and snorted (as if to say _'__what kind of idiot do you take me for? Kiba?__'_), before taking her hand and leading her from the cemetery at a brisk pace.

"Oi, Sasuke, where are we going?" she asked as she was dragged into the main streets of Konoha.  
"Ichiraku's" he stated.  
"Really? Score!"

* * *

Itachi twitched as he watched the exchange between his brother and Naruto from the privacy of the main shrine. He could hear the old preist chuckling to himself, but Ino seemed just as frustrated as he.

"Itachi, you need to have serious word with Sasuke on how to confess to a girl!" She hissed.  
"It appears that way doesn't it?"  
"But you know what this means right?"

Itachi gave the blond girl crouched down beside him a perplexed look.

"It means awesome blackmail!"

As the two talked between themselves as to how they could bribe and blackmail their best-friend and brother respectively, an old wrinkled man gave the two youngsters (as long as he was around, almost everyone would be a youngster) a small sad smile as they left for the main hub of the village.

The old Priest had seen many things in his time as the shrines trusted custodian (it was a respected position in the village that had it's own privileges if you could take time enough to look for them), and that young girl was no exception to his observations.

She was an easy-going child, and far more trusting than he would have expected of one shunned so much by the ones her father, he had watched firsthand, had sacrificed his life and hers for their protection. It had been in the shrine, the ritual.

It was thanks to this firsthand experience that he knew of the knotted web the man's energetic daughter was entangling herself in. he hoped that when the web began to untangle itself, she and boy she was so draw to would withstand the tribulations that awaited them.

The truth can be painful when it is an unwanted one.

"…then again, she may already know the truth" he voiced to himself quietly, gazing across to grave that had just been visited, incense still smoking.  
He showed no surprise as he turned to the eyes of the boy half conversing with the pale blonde Yamanaka, and smiled reassuringly.

"What do you think?" he asked the dark haired boy quietly as he passed him by to start his rounds.

* * *

"…then again she may already know the truth" the old man mumbled to himself.  
Itachi watched the old-mans gaze as it drifted from his mothers memorial to his own presence.

"What do you think?" the man breathed as he passed Itachi by and plodded down the steps of the shrine.

Itachi remained confused by his words for a few moments before several things rapidly clicked into place.

* * *

That night, Sasuke did not return until the hours had ticked beyond ten' o'clock; a rarity for the boy. When questioned, he maintained the smirk on his face and closed-lips before retreating to his bedroom.

After going over the Priest's words, Itachi had found several things beginning to make a lot more sense. The reason for his fathers original sponsorship of Naruto, his familial-like fondness for the girl, his insistence on he and Sasuke getting along with the girl, and most recently his reaction towards Naruto and Sasuke's budding relationship (though Itachi guessed that, if Sasuke's smirk was anything to go by, it had passed the opening stages fairly quickly).

It explained the problems she was having with her memory and how she had come to have the Sharingan at a stretch too (Itachi still wasn't sure how that had been passed on; the Sharingan was not a matriarchal trait but he would be damned if he didn't find out).

This still did not erase the shock and horror of his realization.

Not only did he have a younger sister, but he had unwittingly set the unsuspecting girl up into a relationship with his younger brother (wouldn't that be a story to tell his grandkids?). While it was true that Naruto was not his full-blooded sibling, she clearly had a different father, the relation through the maternal side made the familial relationships seem that much stronger.

Itachi couldn't help but wonder if the feeling of hopelessness as to how to handle this situation he aided in causing was how his father felt at this moment. He considered going straight top the two of them and informing them they were unsuspicious engaging in what most would refer to as incest, and then completely abandoned the idea.

Not only would Sasuke be likely to leave the family for being lied to, but Naruto would not be able to handle the information all at once: going from having no family and what had the makings of a stable relationship to having a family, but also having said relationship with a member of said family would be too much even for Naruto. It would be seen as the worst of betrayals.

And somehow Itachi had the suspicion that, after a lot of consideration on their part, neither of his younger …siblings… would give two flying fucks.

All this being said, Itachi decided it would be best to have a conversation with his father. Going by Naruto's age, their mother had been alive till around the girls second birthday (putting Sasuke at age three, and himself at age eight). Itachi, in all his genius, had failed to come with a plausible reason for their parents to seemingly abandon the girl when they were perfectly capable of raising her.

And more to the point, where had the relationship with his parents gone so wrong that his mother would have sought another?

He had always been under the impression that they had been madly in love.  
Itachi was beginning to wonder just how many skeletons his father had hidden in his overly-large closet.

* * *

"You think, just once, we'd learn our lesson and not bother to turn up on time" Naruto complained, yawning as she leaned her head on Sasuke's shoulder, falling asleep almost instantly

The boy said nothing, too dazed to reply. Like the rest of his team, Sasuke was not a morning person. Ino, who had seated herself beside a nearby tree, appeared to be sleeping but the aura of hell that radiated from her told Sasuke otherwise. She was likely plotting Kakashi's downfall for waking them at such a young hour.

After three more hours of waiting, their teacher finally made an appearance.

"Sorry I'm late, I was discussing something with Mr. Uchiha" Kakashi stated, once the swirl of leaves had disappeared.  
"Liar!" Ino yelled, giving the man her best glare.

Sasuke gave him a suspicious look from the corner of his own glare; for all his fathers own dislike of the mornings, he and Kakashi had been talking a lot lately. It was entirely possible he was telling a half-truth at least.

Naruto continued to drool on his shoulder, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like a certain book she had as yet failed to acquire.  
"Oi, Naruto, wake up" Sasuke poked her shoulder a few times.

When this failed he whispered something in her ear neither Ino nor Kakashi could hear, and received an instantaneous effect.  
"Nooooo! I can't wait that long! I want it now!" she wailed, before looking around and noticing the presence of their team leader.

"Oops, sorry, your own fault for taking so long though scarecrow!" she grinned.

"What did you tell her?" Ino asked Sasuke in a hushed voice.  
"I told her that the rating on Icha Icha was going up from eighteen to twenty-one" he replied in an equally quiet voice.

Ino gave him a horrified look.

"Don't say stuff like that Sasuke; you'll jinx it!" she hissed in a panicked tone.  
Sasuke said nothing but couldn't help but sympathize; it would be something to complain about, he decided after some thought.

After a few more telling-offs from his Trolls, Kakashi finally got to the original reason for the team meetings.  
"I've signed you up for the Chunin exams" he stated, smiling through his mask.

There was a very long silence before Naruto exploded with rage.

"You have us wake up at five AM and that's all you have to tell us?! Ino, you know what this means don't you?"  
"Oh, don't worry. I have a very good idea Naruto… Sasuke, you have enough chakra for a fireball?"  
"Just get on with it!"

Kakashi gulped as his students threw their best combination technique in his direction.

* * *

"...if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd have you admitted to the permanent residency ward in the hospital for Bloodline Insanity" Itachi stated.

His father sighed but made no other indication of complaint; he seemed to realize firsthand just how farfetched his explanation had been. Itachi was beginning to wonder of maybe he wasn't suffering form Bloodline Insanity. This was all so absurd that it would be a much more realistic explanation than the one his father had just given him.

"One thing I don't understand is how Naruto has the Sharingan in the first place" Itachi stated, after a long silence. His father's frown furrowed further.  
"I've been trying to figure that out myself…" he grumbled.

"I have several theories, but they are even more far-fetched than the explanation I've just given you"

Itachi wondered if that was possible but kept his opinions to himself.  
"Have you thought of an explanation for when Naruto finally realizes she has our Bloodline?" he asked instead.

It was an obvious problem that was bound to occur at some point in some form or another after all. In fact, several of the unwanted scenarios his father had unwittingly tangled them in were bound to occur; it was just a matter of which ones were to transpire and when.

His father's uncomfortable silence told him the answer to that question.

* * *

"I can't believe that stupid old Jonin!" Ino raged as her team-mates devoured bowl after bowl of ramen.

"Let it go already; at least he gave us an excuse that was somewhat believable for once" Sasuke said soothingly in-between mouthfuls of noodles; he was determined not to be outdone by the blonde girl sitting between him and the paler-haired girl. That was something easier said than done however.

Ino huffed angrily as she viciously poked at her own noodles with her chopsticks, splashing the broth over the edges of the bowl.

"Still, the Chunin exams sound like fun! Chunins have the same age restrictions as regular eighteen-year-olds, so if we pass…" Naruto trailed off, an eager grin forming across her scarred face. Ino seemed to pick up her trail of thought, and squealed loudly.

"If we pass we can buy Icha Icha Paradise without worrying about the age-restrictions! I take it back! That scarecrow is the best teacher ever!" she bounced up and down on her stool gleefully.

Whilst secretly relishing the idea, Sasuke was unsure that she should be bouncing around so much. His worries were proven to be well founded when Ino's actions sent the wobbly countertop crashing towards the floor.

The countertop was easily dodged by the three customers, but the ramen bowls were not. One was sent crashing onto Naruto's face, still filled with the steaming soup. There was a howl of pain from the girl and she pulled the bowl from her face yelling for a washcloth.

One was quickly handed by Ayame; who was scolding her father for not fixing the countertop earlier. Naruto all but snatched the cold wet rag from Sasuke's hands and scrubbed her face with such ferocity Sasuke worried she could pull her skin off with the action.

The soupy mixture was soon removed, but Naruto was still furiously scrubbing her eyes with the cloth.

"Did it get in your eyes?" Ino asked in a suitably concerned voice (it had been predominantly her fault after all).

Naruto seemed not to hear her, and instead continued rubbing the cloth over her eyelids intensely. Seeing the raw scrubbed skin from her efforts, Sasuke snatched the cloth from her hands. Had he not grabbed her hands, he was sure she would have attacked with her finger nails instead.

"Naruto, what the hell are you trying to do claw your eyes out?" he asked, slightly irritated by her rashness.  
"I can't help it!" she groaned, trying to wrench her wrists from his grasp - unsuccessfully.

"It feels like they're burning from the inside out!" she hissed, face further contorting.  
Those words struck a sickly familiar chord within him, reminding him of his own musings years before:

_If Sasuke didn't know better, he'd say she was prematurely developing the Sharingan.  
He remembered Itachi being on the verge of gouging his eyes out when he went through the process._

_He didn't believe it for an instant but… so many things would click into place if it were true. But if it was true then…  
Deciding to go out on a limb, he spoke four words that would alter his morals permanently._

"Naruto… O-Open your eyes…"

Naruto's face remained scrunched from the pain for a few moments before her eyelids were raised with considerable effort. He briefly heard Ino breathing something along the lines of _'__holy shit!__'_as he stared at a pair of hauntingly familiar black and red swirls. Sasuke wondered if his current emotions were a good example of the phrase _'__the rug being ripped from under your feet__'_.

"It stopped… the burning's gone!" Naruto stated in shock.

She became aware of her best friend and boyfriend-like-person staring at her in equal amounts of shock. Ino was gawping like a fish for some reason, and Sasuke… She didn't really know which emotional category she was supposed to place that expression in.

He didn't look angry at _her_, but…  
"Why are you staring at me like I have broccoli sprouting out of my ears?" she asked in confusion.

Sasuke said nothing as he untied his Hitae-ate protector from around his head, and handed it to her with a shaking hand. She gave him another look of perplexity.  
"T-Take a look…" he instructed, shock still evident on his face.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but raised the shiny metal rectangle to her eye-level. She stared at the spinning black commas and red irises for several moments before adding her own comment.

"Well that's a new one…" she stated.

The Hitae-ate in her hand fell to the ground as her new eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

* * *

_**So Danzou has Edward Elric's arm, hiding a gazillion and twenty one Sharingan's, and Gaara is giving out advice, Mandarin is just going along for the ride in his Mandarin-Way, and Naruto... Well he's basically lost it. My question is this; What kind of drugs are you smoking Kishi?! and where can I get some?!  
**_

_**For the record, Hoshi is not the Priest's name, it's a name for Buddhist priest in Japan...  
I think. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed.  
Nat.  
xxx**_


	6. Act VI: Resolutions & Rumors

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY

* * *

**

**ACT VI  
~ RESOULUTIONS AND RUMORS ~**

* * *

When Naruto awoke, semi-awoke at any rate, it was to the vaguely familiar ceiling of Sasuke's bedroom (she recognised her seven year-old crayon scribbles in the left hand corner).

Her head ached so much it was almost inhumane. What on earth had she been doing for it to ache this much? The last time it had ached this much was after her physical exam against a Sasuke-fan girl in the Academey; the girl had been so frustrated over being outdone she'd thrown an unavoidable rock at her head. Sasuke would probably have killed her if Ino hadn't held him back.

In her musings, it dawned on Naruto that Sasuke had been seeing her differently from the other girls for a lot longer than she had originally thought; she had assumed it was just friendly concern at the time but, now that she was remembering the incident it made mores sense if she thought of his action in a romantic-ish-sort-of sense.

'_Wait, how can I remember that so easily? I couldn't even remember the date before!'_

Naruto pondered this this thought with great concentration. No doubt her new migraine was linked to her sudden regain of memorization and reccolective abilities; it was the why that bothered her. She was missing something important, she was certain! She knew it was in her mind, she could feel it, but something kept pushing it down whenever she brushed over it. It was almost as if she was fighting to keep a secret from herself.

"I don't care! It won't change anything!" she yelled, hoping to get through to her subconscious wariness.

It seemed to work; images of black spiralling commas bleeding into red irises emblazoned themselves across her minds eye. The memory, coupled with a distant crash of thunder, stunned her into a state of full awareness. She sat up in the bed she was laying on, feeling the cold sweat trickling down the back of her neck and her hands shaking.

Why did she have the Sharingan?! Only those with the _'purest'_ blood of the Uchiha's possessed the Sharingan! She knew enough to know that what had occurred at the ramen stall had been a natural manifestation of the bloodline, so that ruled out a transplant like Kakashi's (it was the only explanation she could think of for his Sharingan).

That could only lead her to believe it was the result of some freaky experiment (unlikely, but possible) or…

Or the people she'd considered family had been her family all along. But if that was true, then why didn't Fugaku tell her? Why all the farce with the orphanage? And what about her mother and father? Had Kushina Uzumaki really been her mother? Or was it her father who had come from the Uchiha clan?

Why hadn't anyone told her the truth?!

A click from the doorway and a familiar voice announced Sasuke's presence in the room.

"You're awake… You feel any better?" he asked quietly, closing the door behind him without as much as a creak.  
He made no move to move closer to her, instead standing awkwardly with his back slumped against the doorway.

"Just a headache is all…" she replied just as noiselessly.

She hadn't even begun to think about how Sasuke would fit into this messed up tangle of lies and secrets, which was obviously the scenario they found themselves in. Why else would Fugaku fail to mention that she was a freaking Uchiha? This was so messed up!

Just when she and Sasuke decide to take things a step beyond friendship (something that had been working out rather well thank you very much!), the gods all but blurt out she's closer to him than originally suspected. She had always wondered why his father had chosen to sponsor her, and now she had a pretty god idea why!

If she remembered the day at the cemetery, her instincts had told her it was a bad idea to start a relationship with Sasuke. She should have listened to them instead of ignoring them like she always did with Sasuke for once! They hadn't been dating (if it could be called that) for long but she didn't want to let go of something that had turned out to be a good thing.

But with the facts she knew out in the open...  
How could they stay in a relationship if they were related?

'_I don't care! It won't change anything!' _

Naruto clenched her fist as her earlier resolution floated into the forefront of her thoughts. She was being a coward! She'd made her decision already hadn't she? Sasuke had always been there, offering support when it was required and putting up with her mischief with a half-smile when it was not.

That had been well before any of this… mess… had reared its ugly head. She had decided to chance a relationship despite her instincts claiming otherwise, and she wasn't going to back down from that! Screw biology! She'd developed a crush on him first, and things were going to stay that way stupid Sharingan be damned!

That was what she had decided, but it didn't erase the lingering sense of unease that surrounded the new spider's web she found herself entangled in.

* * *

Sasuke watched from the doorway anxiously. He had no idea what he was supposed to say in this situation; how could he? He'd never had a girlfriend suddenly reveal herself to be a relative before. He didn't blame Naruto for the situation in any way; the fainting thing hadn't just been from the sudden activation, she had been as genuinely shocked by the revelation as he had.

He had told his father and brother of the wobbly-counter incident, but edited it to include Naruto being knocked out instead of the actual events (he had forewarned Ino of this before parting ways, should she talk to either later on). For whatever reason, Naruto's inheritance was obviously a closely guarded secret and he didn't want to cause any unnecessary damage before knowing why.

His father knew what was going on - that much was easily guessed - and Itachi most probably had his own suspicions. Kakashi was obviously aware of the full story if his private discussions with his father were anything to go by (Naruto must have activated the Sharingan during the wave mission without his notice).

He was certain he would get no straight answers from any of them, more likely he and Naruto would have their memories completely erased of the incident and her Sharingan altogether.

He and Naruto; Sasuke had thought long and hard during the girls unconsciousness and come to the conclusion that he could handle the information if she could.

He loved her, plain and simple. His little crush had been more than a little crush for a long time, and this sudden revelation had brought it to his attention. So what if they were related? It was just another reason to do so; Naruto may not have the same level of feelings as he did yet (though that could be debated), but he'd be damned if he gave up without a fight.

"I told them you hit your head on the countertop when Ino jostled it..." he stated carefully.

Her head snapped around to face him, and he noted in the dim light that her eyes had reverted to their usual form - the normal iris and pupil combination she'd had before the wave mission. Her eyes fascinated him - there was so much determination in them.

Before he had been aware of the Kyuubi, he had never fully understood that determination. Now that he did, he was willing to do whatever he could to bash some sense in to the villagers' thick skulls. He'd felt that way before of course, but the reason for thir malice had simply heightened the feeling.

Now there was another level to that determination, and once again it captivated him.

"…Father hid this for a reason, and until we know what it is… I didn't want to take any risks."

He finished his explanation with a barely discernible note of concern. Lightning flashed its brightness trough out the room as the advancing storm finally reached the boundaries of the villages, and Sasuke saw fear flash across her face in that instant.

Any sense of discomfort was gone as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He had briefly considered hugging her, but that might be a bit too much for her to handle at the moment. While he knew he didn't care about the non-existent impact this would have on their relationship, he had no idea what she thought of the situation.

That being said, he found himself fairly taken aback when she crashed into his chest with near enough force to blast the air from his lungs. He could feel her shaking and wondered what was going through her mind; it was hard enough for him to accept that his relative was a family member, but for Naruto she would be coming to terms with the fact she had a family.

A real one, that consisted of people she had considered substitutes for her non-existent one. He couldn't begin to imagine how that felt.

There was another crash of thunder and Sasuke began to wonder if it was going to blowing a gale and squalling thunder every time a major event occurred in their lives. As he pondered this, Naruto's arms tentatively crawled around his back. He was stunned still for a brief second before crushing her body against his with some force.

"…I hate it Sasuke" she mumbled into his shirt. "Every time things seem to be going the way I want them to, something comes along to mess things up. First Kyuubi, now this! Why cant things just be simple for once?!"

Her voice did not waver in the slightest, but the patches of damp fabric on his chest told him she was crying whether she wanted to or not. He could hardly blame her for that though; Naruto acted tough, and he often thought of her as a separate species of human instead of a girl, but she did not deal with things she didn't understand well.

Change, or anything she couldn't fully understand, scared her. It wasn't often, and he had only seen two glimpses of it before now, but it was during times like these when her guard had fully dissipated that he realised that she was a girl. And like all girls (as far as he was aware of at any rate), she was far more vocal with her emotions.

This sudden change had opened up so many levels of incomprehension that she was all but lost. Who was she? Why did they lie to her? (And they had lied at least once) What was she supposed to do with this new information? What did this mean for their relationship? All valid questions he didn't doubt were flooding her thoughts.

"I'll help you get the answers you want Naruto; I want them too" he stated quietly, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

Pulling her closer to him. He was still unsure as to where she stood on the topic of where _they _stood, but he decided that didn't matter in the end. As long a she was happy, he could live with it. Probably.

"…you know... This doesn't change anything for me. You were my boyfriend before you were family…"

Sasuke said nothing as he buried his head amongst the blonde tangles on her shoulder, hiding his own tortuously leaky eyes, before a issuing a silent whisper of agreement over a crash of thunder.

"Me too, idiot"

* * *

For the rest of the week, team seven plunged into their training for the upcoming Chunin exams. Besides their usual training, Sasuke and Ino were almost ground into the dirt during family training sessions, whilst even Naruto was turned into a wheezing pile thanks to Kakashi's Spartan training methods.

While Ino was drilled on how to mind-rape enemy ninja, and Sasuke to serve them as cinders, Kakashi all but carved the basics of Illusions into the blonde girl. This was accompanied by lessons in the physical arts Naruto swore he had copied from his rival Gai (such was their intensity), and sessions on just how to use her shadow clones to her advantage.

Kakashi had sat her down and explained the two benefits of her solid doppelgangers. First was the ability to transfer information; while Naruto was not too bothered about the storing part (her now-fixed memory could do that by itself), she could see the possibilities this would have on her training.

The second was that the shadow clone seal could be added to, forming clones much the same as elemental ones or otherwise whilst still training information - something usual elemental clones and the like were incapable of. This had stumped Naruto, having only read about elemental clones for a few brief moments in the academy.

Kakashi had then given her an example of a lightning clone, and thrown a kunai into the clone. The bolts of electricity had scorched the landscape where it exploded. Kakashi explained that while the clone caused damage, he gained no information, and used at least a third of his chakra in making it.

Since Naruto's clones were a blank canvas, and she had vast reserves of chakra before ever coming close to that of the Kyuubi, the possibilities for her clones were only limited to her own imagination. Kakashi had to suppress a shudder when he saw the manically gleeful expression on her face when she picked up on this fact.

And so Naruto worked on her shadow clones.

Kakashi often wondered if he was pushing her too hard sometimes; several times he had been required to wake the girl up himself (he'd almost received a kunai in his face the first time he tried that). She was unusually exhausted considering her usual limits.

While Kakashi was correct that her exhaustion was due to her training for an extent, he was incorrect in thinking it was due to his sessions. While their guardians remained oblivious, Ino and Sasuke had been training her in chakra control (courtesy of Ino - Naruto did not complain, she was aware of her abysmal control compared to her team-mates), and in all things Red and Uchiha.

As Sasuke learned control and use over her his Sharingan, he all but pummelled the same teachings into Naruto. It had always been the best way to teach her - Naruto may have the memory that came with the red bloodline, but understanding what she memorised was another thing entirely.

Teaching her control of the Sharingan was essential; if the adults surrounding them were aware that they were aware of Naruto's lineage (sort-of: who her parents had been was still a mystery), and that they knew the adults knew more than they currently knew, things would get very messy very quickly.

Which was why Sasuke drilled Naruto twice as hard as his father had him; if she accidentally used it during the exams and someone was close enough to notice, the messiness would begin. Not to mention that leaving it untrained could severely mess up the user's eyesight.

Alongside this were the traditional fire techniques the Uchiha specialised in - Sasuke was fuming when her first fireball was twice the size of his usual ones. As soon as she had the technique as controlled as her clones, she began experimenting with her hand seals for the doppelgangers.

Naruto was not the only one who was given aid; in a reverse situation she was sending them to exhaustion and back via physical exercises and chakra expulsion techniques - she was all but forcing her two friends to increase their chakra and stamina reserves. It was three days before she was satisfied, and by this time Sasuke and Ino pitied any poor Genin team she was given in the future; Kakashi's Spartan training had been a bad influence on the girl.

They cheered up, however, when Naruto began showing them the hand seals for her tried and trusted shadow clones, as well as showing a trick she had picked up whilst fiddling with her hand seals. Their joy only lasted until almost half their new reserves were sucked dry upon creating two clones each.

Ino got her own back by hurling her mind manipulation techniques and illusions at the two young Sharingan did the same by training their physical skill and weaponry till they were all but spitting blood.

On the last day of their training, Kakashi received a small heart attack when he found no trolls waiting for him as usual.

* * *

'_Where the hell are those two idiots?!'_ Ino yelled to herself, pulling on her blonde locks to vent her frustration.

She was standing in the exam room having easily moved past the illusion trap, but her two team-mates still hadn't arrived. She knew they had wanted to get in some extra practice with Naruto's Sharingan this morning, but still! They had to turn up for the exam if they actually wanted to pass!

Icha Icha Paradise was hanging in the balance here!

What on earth were they _doing?! _It wasn't just her that was panicking either; Shikamaru was actually pacing for once! Had this not been such a serious situation, she would have been laughing along with her brother and Choji. She still hadn't found out why her twin was on Shikamaru's team, but she could find out later.

Much as she hoped nothing bad had happened to Sakura, she had more important things to worry about.  
Like two Uchihas who had picked up unsavoury habits from their teacher!

Ino had been contemplating possessing one of the instructors to stall for time when the door to the exam hall burst open, revealing two breathless Genin. Naruto seemed wheezed, but Ino knew that she was no-where near exhaustion. Not to mention the smug triumphant grin that decorated her scarred cheeks. A similar expression on Sasuke's face raised her eyebrow.

After receiving a lecture on time-keeping from Ibiki, the two rushed themselves to the two remaining seats at the front and back of the room respectively as the head of the interrogation department explained the exam. Ino felt like strangling her father's work-mate when he revealed the nature of the test; she and Sasuke may have picked up on the cheating aspect, but Naruto…

Despite Ino's worries, Naruto did pick up on the nature of the test eventually. Unfortunately this brought up a second problem for the blonde; how was she supposed to cheat? There was no way she could use her Sharingan like Sasuke could, if Ibiki saw it things would go downhill fairly quickly. Additionally, she had no techniques suitable for infiltration.

If she had studied the information required in the academy then it would be easy as 1, 2, 3. Since Chunin were well above academy students intellectually however, it was like learning to read all over again. How was she supposed to recall information she had never learned in the first place?

If Ino's mind transfer could be used this would have been so much simpler, unfortunately this had proven to be impossible. During a sparring session Ino had used said technique and emerged from her mind a gibbering terrified mess after an encounter with her lodger.

She could feel Sasuke watching as she tugged on her poor pigtails in frustration. Who the hell thought up such a twisted exam? The examiner? The old geezer? Was this a plot to keep her from the highly coveted Icha Icha Paradise? If it was, someone would receive severe injuries for their actions.

After going through several possible solutions involving her lunchbox, kunai, and superglue, Naruto decided to give the exam up as a bad job and laid her head on the desk waiting for the final question.

* * *

Glancing over her shoulder after what she deducted to be the most sadistic exam in existence, Naruto cackled at Ibiki's look of disgust upon sight of the small patch of drool on her blank paper.

* * *

Sasuke was seated in the middle of the forest of death on a mangled tree stump, pondering the unfathomable creatures otherwise known as female Homo sapiens.

Ino had somehow managed to mangle her skirt to shreds moving through some particularly thorny shrubbery and had insisted on changing into a spare pair of Naruto's shorts (which looked suspiciously like a pair of his own that had disappeared from his wardrobe several weeks ago). They were only three hours into this frickin' triple X nature walk for god's sake!

What Sasuke contemplated was the need for girls to travel in groups when such events or similar instances arose.

It completely baffled him; why did girls need another girl present when sorting their clothing? True, Naruto was not bothered with this sort of business, but Ino consistently dragged Naruto off for such events. As well as for such instances occurring to the brighter coloured blonde; Ino had all but built a barricade on the door when fixing Naruto's jacket during the wave mission.

Surely Ino could change clothes by herself? And why did she insist on running of to god knows where to do so? He wasn't going to look at anything. The mere though sent bad shivers down his spine (though if it were Naruto…). His objections were based around the stolen opportunity to make-out with Naruto again and the sheer idiocy of the action during their current state of affairs.

What if one of them was attacked by another team?

Good as they were, Sasuke doubted he would be able to fend off three ninja at once, let alone Naruto and Ino - though they would have a better chance than he would. Especially those creepy grass ninjas. What the hell was up with those creeps anyway? They heightened his strategy to stay in a group all the more!

Why did he have to put up with this? Hadn't that earlier incident with those crazy mist ninjas taught them going of by themselves was a bad idea? He'd made sure those mist ninjas had been well knocked out for that appalling attempt at impersonation. The man's speech habits had been far too polite; Naruto had laughed at him for his impersonator's inadequacies!

A rustle from the bushes sent a jolt of surprise down Sasuke's spine and a kunai involuntarily slipped from his hand towards the rustling shrubbery. There was an outraged squawk from the greenery and the two blondes emerged looking a little bedraggled. Ino looked set to kill and Naruto was equally discontent.

"What's the password?" he asked, holding another two kunai in front of him.

After the mist ninjas had been knocked out, they had set up a particular password for such events. Naruto and Ino both thought he was being paranoid with such an involved password but he didn't care. Besides, he was being vigilant - not paranoid.

Ino grumbled to herself, but prattled out the lengthy poem in time with Naruto.

"We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet ninja do not need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate" they chorused.

Sasuke took another glance at the two of them before hurling the two sharp knives towards his supposed team-mates.  
"What the hell are you smoking duck-butt?!" Naruto yelled indignantly, dodging the kunai being thrown in her direction.

"Ino didn't probe my mind like she normally would have and Naruto had a different password entirely; that poem is too easy for people to remember - which brings me to my question: who are you and where are my team-mates?!" he asked taking several steps away from the two impostors.

'_Besides, Ino would have been having a bitch fit over her clothes, and Naruto doesn't use duck-butt unless she's flirting anymore. She didn't activate her Sharingan like she was supposed to either…'_

He watched in horror as the two blondes smirked with cruel maliciousness, something which scared the creeps out of him, on their faces. Sasuke watched in horror as the illusion melted off their bodies instead of the normal dispel, revealing two identical black haired grass ninja. Sasuke told himself he did not whimper as the two ninja merged themselves together.

"Very good… I'd expect no less from an Uchiha. I think I'm going to like this one…" the man (though that was open to a lengthy discussion) spoke slitheringly.  
"Oh crap…!"

'_I told them it was a bad idea to split up!'_

* * *

"Oh my god, gross! What the heck is this slimy stuff?! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross!…"

Naruto was not sure how she and her best friend had landed themselves in their current predicament, but she did know that Sasuke was going to dripping with that annoying _'I-Told-You-So'_ aura when they finally reunited themselves with him.

Oh the joy…

"…gross! Gross! Gross!…

As far as she was aware, she and Ino had been devoured by a giant snake. This meant they had been eaten with intention of being digested for lunch. Naruto sure as hell didn't like the idea of being something's lunch; how demeaning would that be? Here she was, a fledgling ninja with boundless potential finished off before her time because the local wildlife was peckish.

How humiliating.

"…Gross! Gross! Gross!…"

Although she highly doubted giant snakes were part of Konoha's local wildlife. There was a summons contract for snakes of course, but that belonged to one of those big three or whoever they were. The really creepy one that looked liked he stalked boys - the paedophile-looking one.

What was his name?

"…Gross! Gross! Gross!…"

Forgetting his name, Naruto concentrated on thinking a way out of Mr. Snakey's stomach before they were digested by the sticky stuff. Fire techniques were a no-no; if toad oil was flammable it stood to reason that snaked digestive juices could be flammable too - it wasn't worth the risk.

"…Gross! Gross! Gross!…"

All those shadow clones earlier when they were trying to kill Mr. Snakey before he swallowed them had tired her out - she had the chakra, but the memories received from them had worn her out. Those scales had been impossible to penetrate from the outside too, so no clones either.

What did that leave her with?

"…Gross! Gross! Gro-"

"Ino, for the love of all that is freaking holy, stop wasting our oxygen and shut up!"  
"But this slimy stuff is gross!"  
"If you don't stop screeching and do something were going to end up digested!"

That made her stop. Not for long, granted, but when she spoke again it was with less panic and in a more serious nature.  
"What do you want me to do? Can't you just torch our way out? I'm not exactly a heavy hitter…"

Naruto gave her a maniacal grin.  
"Use the mind-transfer on Mr. Snakey, and make him spit us back up!"

Ino stared.  
"You want me to make a giant snake take up bulimia?" she asked in a stunned voice.

"More or less - this digestive stuff might be flammable if the frog summons are anything to go by, and the scales are too tough for my clones to burst…" Naruto stated, trying to remove the uncertain look in her friend's eyes.

"But we'll be covered in snake vomit!" Ino protested.  
"Ino, were already covered in corrosive digestive juices, what harm is a little vomit going to do?" Naruto asked exasperatedly, trying to stop herself from sinking further towards the bubbling pool of stomach acids.

"…fair point, just promise to torch the thing when we get out" Ino growled, making the familiar hand sign.  
"…did you read my mind again?"

* * *

Sasuke hurried through the tree's and bushes with as much speed as he could muster. He had told them splitting up was a bad idea! Now he had a creepy paedophile with an overly long tongue stalking him! God-knows what had happened to Naruto and Ino, but he suspected they weren't faring any better than he was.

Then again, this… (he wasn't sure if it could be called a man but the term would serve as well as any other) this _man_ had tried to bite him twice already. If he hadn't spent the week dodging Naruto's Sharingan enhanced attacks, he would never have been able to doge them at all. On the other hand, all the dodging and running had made a serious dent in his stamina - he was feeling the effects of it combined with that of chakra use.

He pushed through some particularly thorny undergrowth to a large clearing, surrounded by thick vegetation and trees on all sides. He immediately scaled one of the giant trees to gain a better view, and thus be relatively prepared for the creepy Pedo man when he arrived. A loud howling scream penetrated the vegetation from a different location and Sasuke prayed that Ino and Naruto were the ones causing it rather than on the receiving end.

The animalistic howling was very distracting, and he very nearly didn't notice the pale man sneaking up behind him from the tree branch itself. Thankfully, he turned quick enough to dodge the kunai that had been descending towards him. Moving quickly of the branch, he cursed his failing senses - he was exhausted from the running and unsure as to how much longer he could keep ahead of the Pedo-freak.

Where were Naruto and Ino when he needed them? Just one of their joint attacks would blow the creep to Iwagakure! Unfortunately, their joint attacks usually required the aid of his two other team-members to be of any use. To make matter ever-so much more enjoyable, exhaustion chose that moment to finally creep up on him, and his footing fell from beneath him.

The journey to the branch below was an unpleasant one - braches and leaves whipping ad tearing at his skin - and the surprise waiting for him was even less enjoyable. Two elongated fangs struck out and sunk into his neck, releasing a toxin into his bloodstream. The effect was immediate, and distsgusting waves of pain wracked his skeleton as the toxin burned his blood and bit into his bone with a vengeance.

"Your brother escaped me Sasuke; lets see if you can do the same..." the creep hissed, freakishly long tongue flicking his neck and sealing the wound.

His skin was twisting in even more agony than the near full body seizure coursing through him, and he could feel something marring his skin, something of disgusting maliciousness.

"Sasuke!" a familiar voice yelled.

He couldn't remember whose it was, but he knew it to be one of his team mates. Even his slowly darkening vision could make out a blonde colour - though there was no way to be sure if it belonged to Ino or Naruto. As he was pulled into a standing position he could make out something orange furiously and animalistic clawing at his creepy attacker.

"Naruto, stop! Don't use that!" Ino yelled beside him, looking torn between her two team-mates.

The last thing Sasuke heard before the dark claimed him was a roar of fury, and Ino screaming at their team-mate to stop.

* * *

When Sasuke awoke, the first thing he was aware of was that some sort of crazy struggle for mental control had taken place during his unconsciousness (which, incidentally, he had won and locked in the back of his mind with strong chains, thank you very much Mr. creepy paedophile). The second thing he was aware of was Ino and her brother's team trying to fend of a bunch of malicious looking sound ninjas. Thirdly, Naruto was twitching and writhing on the ground next to him, snarling to herself in some animalistic language.

Sasuke took that to mean that large amounts of shit had hit an exceptionally quickly whirling fan.

"Ino what the hell happened?!" he yelled fling a kunai towards the man creeping up behind her. His kunai were blown away by a blast of compressed air, but he needn't have worried. Ino's twin was already in position to send the man into oblivion with a technique of his own.

"Yamanaka secret technique: Oblivion!" two voices yelled out.

As Ino and Inoro focused their attack on the man, the remaining two were quickly restrained by Choji and Shikamaru. Sasuke was non too pleased with watching events unfold, but just throwing that one kunai had sent waves of pain throughout his body from the bite mark on his shoulder. In spite of his frustrations he could see why the Ino-shika-cho trio was a set unit every year; teamwork was not the word for it. It was like watching a living organism flicking with deadly vines.

Ino's extra practice had been paying off.

"Shit, this is becoming a problem, were leaving!" the leader, a man who wore what looked like half a bear skin, yelled to his only standing companion.

A girl, with black hair longer than, but no-where near as well cared for as Ino's, picked up her unconscious team-mate with one arm and they dashed off into the forest.

"Aright, will someone please tell me what the hell happened while I was out?!" Sasuke snapped, seeing no more enemies to be run off.

Ino jerked her head towards him and Sasuke noted she was wearing that pair of Naruto's blue shorts (he knew those were his!) instead of her skirt, and had stitched her arm warmers into longer, additional sleeves on her purple shirt. Her hair was flying out of control given the lack of tie - he had assumed this had occurred during the fight.

His concerns over her wardrobe were by no means completely complementary (though it did look better than her previous outfit in his opinion), but majorly noting the greater practicality. He was proved correct when Ino dashed towards him with grater ease than she would have with the skirt, but he was more worried over the frantic look Ino was directing towards him.

"You're awake! Thank god! You started yelling and this ugly purple chakra was oozing out of your neck! It was almost as bad as…" only her eyes drifted towards Naruto's twitching form whilst her mouth spoke some other gabble for the benefit of those surrounding them.

"I was so glad when it stopped, but then you had a fever and nothing I did was enough to bring it back down!" she wailed, throwing aside his dislike of excessive human contact and squashing him anyway.

Sasuke waited several moments longer than usual before wrestling himself free form her monstrous grip. Ino was near stunned she had held on for the few seconds she had - hugs of that length were usually limited to Naruto and close family, technically only close family if Naruto's Sharingan was anything to go by.

"I'm fine, just tell me what happened!" he instructed in a calm tone.

Ino knew better than to ignore Sasuke when he used the calm voice; she instantly launched into an explanation of events since their separation. First was a rather vivid description of vomiting themselves from a snake's stomach, then an explanation of what had happened with the creepy paedophilic-ninja.

The creep, apparently known as Orochimaru, had just given him the hickey of doom (in Ino's words) when they finally caught up. Naruto had been rather pissed of with the creep, and not hesitated to draw on the power of the deranged fur-ball to exact her revenge. Orochimaru had seemed amused by this, and placed something Ino called a five pronged seal (Sasuke had no clue what that was) on Naruto.

The red chakra had been completely erased according to Ino, but Naruto hadn't let that stop her. Despite Ino's protests she had activated her Sharingan, and managed to stay even with the man's attacks for some time, as if she could predict his attacks.

"…She was doing fine until he saw her eyes Sasuke! After that, all he had to do was up his speed and put another five-prong on her!" Ino growled, frowning much more than necessary.

Sasuke had a sneaking suspicion she was hiding something back, but it was useless to try and trick it out of her.  
Mind games were useless with Ino, given her family specialities.

"What's this five-pronged seal you keep talking about?" he asked, still in confusion over that part of her explanation.

"It's this really complex seal dad uses in his more complex mind-reading techniques, he's just started teaching it to me and I already hate it! It's going to take years to get the hang of! It uses element seals to disrupt and control the chakra network by inserting-"

"Okay, that's enough. I know jack shit about seals, but it sounds like anything from good, am I right?"  
Ino nodded.

"Naruto probably won't be able to manipulate her chakra without considerable effort when she wakes up. I don't even want to think about what one of them did to the fur-ball seal, but the bastard put two of them on her!" she raged.

Sasuke noted Shikamaru and his team were seeing to an unconscious boy in a green jumpsuit, which probably explained why they weren't asking questions they didn't want to answer. Ino's glance towards her twin told Sasuke she was probably threatening him with blackmail via their telepathic link.

"I take it you dragged us here and got jumped by the sound creeps then?" he asked, gesturing to the new clearing he now found himself in.  
"Pretty much…" Ino replied her thoughts elsewhere.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but she ignored him. She was too busy worrying about what that creep had said after putting the second five-prong on her team-mate.

* * *

_Ino watched in horror as a second five pronged seal was rammed on top of the previous one. Surely if this man knew what Naruto contained, and knew what one of those seals could do, he would realise how disastrous placing a second one on her could be?! _

_She was about to voice her objections (it was the most she could do at the moment given Sasuke's dead-to-the-world status), when the man hissed something to Naruto neither blonde expected._

"_My, my, my! It seems I was_ wrong _about those rumours; you're_ living proof_ aren't you? Mikoto was quite the_ brazen _lady, cheating on Fugaku like that wasn't she…?" he hissed in the blonde girl's ear as she slipped into unconsciousness, before throwing her towards one of the trees._

_Seeing Naruto was in need more than Sasuke, Ino quickly moved to catch her friend before she hit the trunk._

"_Where the hell do you get by talking about Mrs U. like that? What rumours? What the hell does all that have to do with Naruto?!" she yelled at the man, forcing her chakra into the thinnest probing tentacles she could._

_She pushed her chakra into his mind, his consciousness, searching his chakra consciousness for anything she could. He stated slightly, giving her a curious oily gaze, before smirking that horrible smirk of his._

'_You're rather _talented _with those mind techniques aren't you, little _Yamanaka?_'_

_Ino gasped, face paling in horror as his own thoughts invaded her mind through her own chakra. Hastily erecting the barrier she had been taught, she struggled to wrench her chakra from his possession with unsatisfactory results._

'_What an _interesting_ little bunch you are… Since you've amused me, I'll play along. Use your clan's influence_ mind-reader_; the nurses at the hospital are _easily_ swayed…'_

_Ino barley registered his information; she could feel malevolency in his thoughts that terrified her. This man was as evil as the fox that was caged in the blonde girl she was clinging to. She wanted his thoughts out of her head!_

'_Of course, this information is not _free…_ If you think you've come away from me _unscathed_, think again _Yamanaka!_' _

_The snake-like voice hissed in the manner of cruel laughter before blasting her thoughts back towards her. Ino placed one hand on the ground, keeping her form collapsing herself as she recovered from the sudden impact of her own chakra. _

_By the time she had picked up her state of mind, the snake wielder was gone._

* * *

Ino's attention was not on Naruto, whop was slowly beginning to wake up (much to both her and Sasuke's relief), but on those words Orochimaru had hissed into her mind.

Ino didn't know what the snake man had done to her, but she decided she would leave that to her father. She had already informed him via their telepathic link, and she was certain he had informed the appropriate people of the crazy Sannin's presence too (though she had insisted he let her team finish the exam if the could).

What concerned her was what the man had told her about Mikoto Uchiha.

From what she had heard, it was as if he was saying she was Naruto's biological mother, not Kushina Uzumaki as she had previously thought. If that were to be the case, then it opened up yet another can of complicated worms Ino didn't think they would see the bottom of for a very long time.

* * *

**_Killer bee is going on my list of awesomeness! And depending on the filler-portrayal, Utakata may be joining him. I'm not too happy about the filler arc though; Why can't they just postpone it until there enough manga-material for the animators? They could fit in a couple of 12-24 episode seasons of other animes, and there would not be this problem with having rubbishy pointless filler arcs!_**

**_In case you havent noticed I despise filler arcs with a passion equal to the intensity of a volcano. _**

**_I'd say sun, but that level of animosity is reserved for english dubs. Uragh... Insert ear-hacking. I watched Shippuden in English up till Sakura's battle with Sasori, and I'm still feeling the effects of the headache it gave me. Naruto is so whiny in the English dub. And Sakura? Ugh. I think her english voice is half the reason for all the Sakura-haters. Sasuke sounds constipated, Gaara sounds like he ate sandpaper despite breathing issues, and well, Kakashi just sounds kinda doped up (he does in the japanese version too, but the good kind of doped up y'kow?)._**

**_In other news, I still can't find Kishimoto's stash (the meanie won't share, so I've resorted to trickery and subterfuge), and I was almost became a criminal (no joke) but thankfully I regained some of my brains. The Demon-Queen Version 2.0 thinks this is because of my stash, and that I should rid myself of it, but I just can't!_**

**_I was all 'It's my stash woman! You don't do that to your stash, you just don't!', but then I dropped the matter. I was distracted by the new God-Named technique even Mandarin runs from screaming. Old-bogus has some guts! He is growing on me, in a very starnge twisted way no one but myself would understand._**

**_I don't know why, but I was just hit with a plot bunny for a Mandarin-OldBogus fic, and it is very scary and creepy and I think I'm going to puke. There is a limit to Mandarin's whore powers! _**

**_So yeah... _**

**_It's all good!  
:D_**

**_Hope ya enjoyed the hell-sawn plot my imagination came up with.  
Your thoughts are, as always, appreciated.  
_**

**_Nat.  
xxx _**


	7. Act VII: Such Twisted Games We Play

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY **

* * *

**ACT VII  
~ SUCH TWISTED GAMES WE PLAY~**

* * *

"You three certainly look like you've been having fun..." Itachi noted, greeting the bedraggled team seven after the opening of the summoning scrolls.  
"Are you trying to be funny _again_? Because you _really_ aren't getting any better at that…" Sasuke growled, massaging a less-than-natural bruise on his shoulder.

Itachi ignored him, taking in the team's appearance in general. His brothers bruising aside, his sister looked to be in just as serious a condition; that hand on her stomach told him something had happened concerned the Kyuubi - it's chakra had been released at the very _least_. A glance to the remaining blonde showed a very erratic looking Ino. Her gaze was shifty, untrusting, and paranoid almost. Like she didn't trust anyone in the room.

That somehow worried him and offended him, but Itachi took no time to consider the reasons as to why that may be. He had other more important matters to worry about, such as the fact two of his siblings and a close friend were suffering the effects of going head to head with the renegade Sannin.

"Did we make it in time for the exams?" Sasuke asked, his tone promising sever pain if he received a negative reply.  
"You're a day early, _thank god_… What _on earth_ possessed you to take on _Orochimaru?_" Itachi replied, his worry shown through the irritation in his voice.

"We just figured he was a super-powered creep! I didn't recognise him till he told us his name, and BY _that_ point Sasuke had already passed out because of the doom-hickey!" Naruto replied in their defence.

"And Naruto had already been gut-jabbed" Sasuke added.

"And you, Ino? What possessed you to try and probe the mind of an S-Class Missing-Nin?" Itachi asked, expecting an equally valid excuse.

Instead, she froze momentarily. Itachi also noted the dark look on Naruto's face and resolved to somehow bully the information out of Ino later (he would pretend to believe whatever excuse she conjured for now). He suspected he had missed something of importance.

"I don't know; I think I just freaked out after he knocked out Naruto too…"Ino replied lamely.

Itachi gave them an unreadable look before heading towards one of the doors at the side of the hall.  
"Come on; you three need a serious check up before the preliminaries begin" he informed them, holding the door open.

* * *

"You're lucky I managed to get here so quickly little missy; his chakra had almost spread to the conduction vein. Any longer and you'd have been one of his mindless drones and never known the difference" Inochi wheezed, finally finishing the examination of his daughters neural chakra network.

"But he used my own chakra!" Ino protested.

She was clearly horrified by how close she had been to the line that separated bad from disastrous.  
"Yes, but he was controlling it with his own thoughts and ideas Ino; you might as well have chopped of your own head" he explained, badly.

Ino's frown prompted him to give a better explanation.

"Your own chakra was aiming to rewire your thoughts to suit his purposes; you would never have noticed by yourself since it was acting by his will to be unnoticed."  
"Oh… Oooh… Oh boy, I really didn't think that through did I?" Ino berated herself.

She slumped back down on the sofa she had been sitting on whilst her father repaired the damage to her neural chakra network. Now that the job was finished, her head ached something awful. She felt like she had been practicing the Mind-Body technique a few hours too long.

She thanked the gods they had arrived a day early; had she tried to go through whatever was in store for them next she was certain she would have found herself in a worse pickle than the one her father had just removed her from. Her own problems aside, she did not even want to think about what would have happened to Naruto and Sasuke had they tried to continue.

* * *

In another room, the occupiers of Ino's thoughts were going through similar examinations.

Naruto's examination has shown no direct problems; she had been able to mould her chakra before arrival with only slight hindrance. The Hokage had deemed her able to continue with the exams, though had promised to have the five-pronged seals removed at a later date. The blonde had raised no objections; Ino needed her father's help far more than she did at the moment, and she wouldn't be surprised if fixing Ino wore him out for at least a few days.

Naruto now sported a gleeful smirk on her face as Sasuke was forced to remove his shirt so the Hokage could properly examine the doom-hickey on his neck. Sasuke glared at her over the old man's shoulder, but showed no other signs of his discontent at being ogled like a zoo animal. The Hokage prodded the mark on his shoulder, and Sasuke released a small wince.

"You're very lucky to be alive, Sasuke; this is the cursed seal of heaven. It has a ten percent survival rate" the Hokage informed him, taking a long frustrated draw from his pipe.

Sasuke paled.  
Ten percent? That was it?!

"Normally, I'd have this sealed off, but my resident seal master has been absent for several months now. I believe Kakashi would be able to seal it, but he's been assigned an A-rank and will not return for several days…" the old man grumbled to himself.

"Uh, what will happen if I don't have it sealed Hokage-Sama? And will I be able to keep going with the Chunin exams?" Sasuke asked, not liking the worry on the wrinkled leader's face at all.

"For one thing, if you use it, your cells will bun out rather quickly - decreasing your lifespan. It will additionally try to control your actions, your thoughts, in such a way that would be beneficial to Orochimaru, eventually forcing you to seek him out" the man informed him gravely.

Sasuke paled at the mere idea of voluntarily looking for the long-tongued man - never mind the lifespan-shortening and mind controlling. Those problems could easily be solved even if he did use the thing (though he had no such intentions). Seeking out the man however…  
If that was a side effect of using the thing then there was no way he would ever force a smidgen into it.

"So, it's like an artificial fuzz-ball without the fuzz-ball?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke briefly noted the similarities.  
"In a manner of speaking, yes" the Hokage replied, after comparing the two himself.

"So all he has to do is keep it locked away mentally till someone can seal it off. I do it with fuzz-ball, so Sasuke should have no problem so log as he doesn't let himself get too angry - that's always what sets fuzz-ball off…" Naruto surmised.

Sasuke gave the Hokage a look that verged on the very edge of being imploring.  
The old man took in their expressions and sighed in resignation (Sasuke noted Naruto's eyes had taken on that terrifying irresistible shine).

"I would greatly advise otherwise, but Naruto is right in a sense. Even when sealed off, the sealing is based on a degree of mental control. Besides, you've both worked hard to get to this point. It would be unfair to withdraw you at this point. I will insist that this bee take care of as soon as possible however" the Hokage smiled, adding a serious tone to the end of his reply for good measure.

Sasuke could not help himself from letting Naruto's infectious grin cross his face. He pulled his shirt back on (Naruto pouted in disappointment - the Hokage chuckled) and headed towards the doorway. He needed to let Itachi know before they were taken to wherever they would be staying for the night.

It was not until he held the doorknob in his hand that he realised Naruto was lagging behind. Turning around, he could see her on the verge of asking the Hokage a question - a troubling one if her expression was anything to go by - before dismissing the idea and hurrying over to his side, grin masking her discomfort for the benefit of the old man giving her an eye of curiosity.

"Come on Sasuke! Let's go annoy that prudish brother of yours!" she grinned manically as she opened the door.  
His own curiosity aside, he found himself smirking at the idea anyway.

* * *

"Orochimaru did what?!" Fugaku raged, horrified by the news his oldest child had just delivered to him.

"Exactly what I just said; in either case, we'll have to wait until Jiraiya-Sama or Kakashi-sempai can arrange the sealing procedure. Inochi may be able to see to Naruto, but not for a few days." Itachi informed him, trying to calm his father despite the increasingly bad news.

"What? What can't he do it now?" Fugaku asked.

"Ino was the only one left conscious after Naruto collapsed; she was forced to use one of her mind techniques and her force it back onto her, under his control. Inochi spent several hours removing the effect from her neural system. He will be out of action for a few days as a result" he frowned, not happy with Ino's actions in the slightest.

For any normal Genin, the first idea to spring to mind upon confrontation with a renegade ninja of Kage level would be to flee far, far away. But Ino? No, she decided to ignore common sense and try to invade his brain instead (he sincerely hoped she had not discovered any of his more traumatising habits whilst doing so).

Naruto's motivation was understandable, and Sasuke had be trying to run away (the stalker-like tendencies of the man had made it impossible, but he did try). He failed to see the logic in the mind-readers actions. They made no sense, and for some reason angered him.

Fugaku gave his eldest son the scrutinizing look he often used on Sasuke when he spoke of Naruto outside of his son's notice. Why did he sound more worried about the Yamanaka girl than his siblings? He was unusually irritated too…

Oh no.

The blonde had not woken up his hormones, had she? No! He was having enough problems with Sasuke and Naruto! He did not want to deal with Itachi's hormones too! Older he may be but, as much as he hated to admit it, his siblings had gotten further with each other in barley two months than he had in eighteen years and caused more damage than he could handle!  
If Itachi realised his hormones were finally active…

Fugaku always knew there was a reason he had been slightly wary of the Yamanaka girl.  
Now he knew why.

He was going to kill Inochi.

* * *

"Uwah, those matches were really something!" Naruto claimed, diving into her bowl of take-out ramen.

Team seven had seated themselves on the bridge, feet dangling over the barrier as they consumed numerous bowls of take-away ramen from Ichiraku's in celebration of making it though the forest of death, and for the progression to the semi-finals for Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke had been the first to go up in the whole tournament, against a guy from Otogakure. Thing had progressed well until the man had siphoned of Sasuke's chakra - awakening to doom-hickey. Thankfully, Naruto's trust in Sasuke's mental control had been well founded. He had managed to suppress the creepy black markings before they had a chance to spread to his limbs. Sasuke had then proceeded to knock the irritating chakra-stealer unconscious.

Ino had faced off against her own twin in a fascinating match. Both were evenly matched in physical arts, but Inoro gained an edge over his elder sister with his prodigal ability with reading facial expressions, reacting to habits only he could pick out from daily interaction with her.

Ino had countered him with her own notable abilities with their family techniques, blasting the boy with mental blocks and instigators of confusion to counter his predictions. In a climax, he had knocked her to the ground and prepared to execute one of the few techniques he had actually mastered.

* * *

"_Oh god, he's lost it!" Shikamaru grumbled, slapping a hand to his fore head in frustration with his team-mate's actions.  
"__I can't wait to see how she handles this!" Naruto grinned, hanging over the barrier eagerly to gain a better view of her friend's match._

"_Inoro, you do realise that technique is absolutely useless don't you?" Ino asked in an exasperated tone, as if she had tried and failed to explain this many times before (which she had - many, many times)._

"_Shut up piglet! I've not got much else!" her opponent raged, breaking the hand sign to momentarily wave his arms angrily.  
"__Well maybe if you paid more attention when I tried to explain the techniques to you, you'd have some better options, boar-head!"  
"__Shut up! I don't see you studying facial psychology after dinner either!"  
"__Boar-head!"  
"__Piglet! Piglet, Piglet PIGLET!"_

"_Err… what are they doing?" Choji asked, directing the question to anyone who could answer._

_Sasuke had wondered the same thing, but chosen not to voice his question to save his pride - not that it had escaped Naruto's notice when he twitched in response to Choji's question.  
"__I think they're trying to see which one looses it first; psychological warfare. Is that right Shikamaru?" Naruto asked the pineapple-hairstyled boy, much to Sasuke's irritation._

_He had seen the looks Shikamaru had been shooting Naruto since they had first entered the room and he did not like them one bit. Now Naruto was furthering her contact with him. He really did not like that; Sasuke briefly realised this was jealousy, and then dismissed the thought to continue to glare at the boy._

"_Yeah, but I wish they weren't so loud… Dam pain in the ass Yamanakas…" Shikamaru droned in reply.  
"__Ah! Ino's gone and lost it!" Sasuke pointed out with enthusiasm only noted by Naruto and his brother (who stood in place of Kakashi in his time of absence)._

_Indeed Ino did seem to have lost the psychological game, for her long hair now lay in tatters on the floor of the arena - much to her brother's horror. Sasuke looked to his brother in puzzlement, an expression mirrored even by Naruto. He simply nodded towards the arena in answer: _'just watch and see'_._

"_That's it! I'm going to turn your brains to mush!" Ino yelled._

_There was a note of breathlessness in her voice that had not been present before the removal of her hair. Her twin raised an eyebrow but did not seem to find anything to be wary of, and did not hesitate to yell out the name of Ino's most basic mind technique. Ino made no move to dodge the incoming technique, but grinned as she pulled her left hand up into the air._

_The strands of hair that had littered the floor formed a fine, haphazard net in front of her, blocking her brothers supposed trump card from reaching her.  
"__Ha! Bet cha' didn't see that one coming Boar-Head!" Ino rasped out gleefully._

_Up above Sasuke was thanking his stars his Sharingan had gained their second tomoe; with it had come the ability to see chakra, and thus he could see the intricacies of the battle others could not (except those two Hyuugas - they could probably see better than he could). _

"_What did she do Sasuke?" Naruto asked, a hint of irritation in her voice._

_Sasuke supposed that was because their precautions prevented her from activating her own fully developed Sharingan to do the same thing he was. She probably had some suspicions, but Naruto did not like just having suspicions. She had grown used to the instant knowledge provided by her improved memory bank, and liked having proper confirmation._

"_Ino channelled her chakra into those strands of hair, but kept her chakra connected to her left hand, like that puppet guy form earlier. She made a living net to catch her brother's technique, and pulled it out after he made himself vulnerable…" he explained. _

_Itachi nodded, confirmation of his words._

"_I get it, because It's her hair, she has a better link with it than just chakra. Inoro's consciousness is stuck until she releases him..." Naruto grumbled to herself, frowning in concentration._

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow.  
"__I don't think she'll last long though; she doesn't have as much stamina as we do, and she used a lot earlier with those other techniques. She's barley standing up" Naruto explained, pointing to Ino's shaking legs with one finger._

_Her words came true moments later when Ino collapsed to the floor, not quite unconscious but not far from it either. Her strands of hair drifted silently to the floor, releasing her brother from her trap. After a few seconds of waiting her brother struggled to a sitting position, before he too collapsed from exhaustion._

"_Since neither combatant is able to continue, I declare the fourth match between Ino and Inoro Yamanaka to be a double forfeit" _

* * *

Naruto had been the last member of team seven to compete, and had faced of against Kiba Inuzuka. Apparently, the boy had been holding a grudge for the time she broke his nose when they first met, since he had not even begun to think of taking it easy on her. He had immediately landed a punch to her face with enough strength to send her hurling backwards.

Ino and Itachi had been force to restrain Sasuke form going down and murdering Naruto's opponent there and then, such was the rage that consumed him. Sasuke's rage, however was nothing compared to Naruto's, and she had proceeded to prove her reputation as village prankster extraordinaire with clones and transformations. Ino had shrieked with laughter when Naruto pulled out some sort of pheromone technique to end the match.

Apparently, it was one taught in the girls classes back in the Academey. It was supposed to smell of flowers and such, but even on the balcony, the sulphuric scent of rotten eggs had been obvious.

Thus, they found themselves on the bridge with their ramen, discussing their training for the second round of matches that were to take place in a month's time. Sasuke and Naruto both knew they would have to go through their respective sealing procedures at some point, but beyond that, neither was sure of what to do for their training.

Or Naruto wasn't - Sasuke could easily train with his - their - family. Kakashi had mentioned that he would be taking several Jonin only missions at the current time, so Naruto was not too optimistic about the Jonin giving her some training.

"Whatever; it'll work out somehow!" Naruto shrugged the matter off cheerily, diverting her attention back to her ramen.

Ino chose that point in time to deflate the cheerful atmosphere.  
"Naruto, we need to go to the hospital at some point..." she stated in a serious tone of voice.  
"What? Why?" Naruto asked around a mouthful of noodles.  
"Remember what that creep said before you passed out?" she asked in a low voice.

The slackened hold of Naruto's chopsticks sent alarm bells ringing in Sasuke's head; he knew he had missed something, and this was it.  
That creep had done something, he knew it!

"How could I forget Ino? I've been trying to ignore it but…"

Ino nodded in sombre understanding.  
"I figured; but I asked him what he meant, and he told me to go pull the influence cards on the nurses at the hospital. I was probing his chakra at the time, so I don't think he was lying either…"

Sasuke hated being the one out of the loop. It was very frustrating to listen to people talk about something you did not understand; they may as well have been speaking ancient Iwan for all he understood of the conversation. It really was incredibly annoying.

"Why would he even tell you?" Naruto frowned.  
"Apparently we were _'interesting'_..." Ino stated, making a bad attempt on the man's voice to lighten to mood a little.

"What are you talking about?!" Sasuke growled, finally loosing his patience.

Ino looked somewhat torn between answering him and preventing his involvement in something that was clearly important.  
Naruto glanced at him and sighed, taking the matter into her own hands.

"After you passed out, I fought that creep. After he put that second seal on me, he told me something about… Well, he _hinted _at where my Sharingan came from. I think he knew _exactly_ where it came from, in all honesty…" she told him, far too calmly to ease his state of mind.

"I'm not going to tell you what, since I want to see if he was telling the truth first, but either way I'll tell you what he said. I promise, just let me do this by myself, okay?" she asked, her eyes not wavering from their gaze into his.

Sasuke did not like the situation at all; this was far more serious than he had originally let on. He had assumed it was some sort of physical problem, not an emotional one, and especially not one on this scale. But, in spite of his reservations, he knew that Naruto needed the closure on her background before he did.

He grunted in agreement with her request. Naruto's eyes shone with gratitude, and she squeezed his hand tightly, beyond Ino's view.  
"Alright, now that we have Mr. Grumpy's approval, what are we supposed to be looking for in there anyway?" she asked.

Sasuke could not help it. He was so stunned by her Idiocy that he did not even stop to think of the effect his actions would have on his image. His hand simply moved by itself, slamming into the girl's back. The force of the blow caused her to loose her balance on the barrier, and tumble from the bridge the short distance into the calm river bellow them.

She rose from the water, treading the water to keep her head in an aerated zone, cursing, yelling, and generally expressing her displeasure.  
"Ino! What the hell was that for?!" she raged, glaring towards the blonde girl, who stared at Sasuke with a disbelieving expression on her face.

Naruto followed her gaze to the black haired boy giving his had a wide-eyed stare.

"No way! _You_ pushed me in?!" she gawped.  
Sasuke twitched and Ino laughed at her emphasis on the pronoun.

The blonde girl fell into such a fit that she found herself about to join Naruto in the summery water of the river, and she grinned mischievously at Sasuke as she grabbed hold of his shirtsleeve. His eyes widened when he realise he was too late to stop himself falling Ino to the river, and the joined their hysterical blonde team-mate with a loud splash.

* * *

Fugaku slivered open the door of his youngest son's room. He lay sprawled over his mattress in a state of such calm it reminded him that, despite his recent appointment to ninja status, he had only passed his thirteenth birthday a few weeks before graduating the Academey. Naruto lay sprawled in the same bed in much the same fashion, her snoring loud enough to rival Sasuke's.

Surprisingly this did not bother him; Naruto had been hijacking Sasuke's (and to a lesser extent Itachi's) room since they became better acquainted with each other. He knew for a fact that Naruto often stole Sasuke's shorts when she had none of her own in a wearable condition.

He could not say he was at ease with their relationship; he was far from it. On the other side of the same coin, his objections or disapproval would never make sense unless they discovered the reasons for his objection. Itachi seemed to think they would not care even if they did, and watching them with their guards down for once (especially Naruto, who had far more reason to be guarded than any run-of-the-mill ninja) he couldn't help but wonder if he was right.

Neither was the type to take rules seriously if they got in the way, that much he knew almost instinctively. It was not a stretch of the imagination to believe social norms were included in that disregard. Still, in spite of that possibility, he instantly repelled the mere idea. He would have to reveal the truth them at some point - he simply would not accept this going any further than it had.

Not now though; with Chunin exams to worry about and what Naruto affectionately referred to as a _'doom-hickey'_, neither his ward nor his son could afford any distractions. There was also the small matter of Orochimaru's infiltration of the exams to worry about; no doubt, the police force would be working double shifts for some time. Itachi would have his hands full with his ANBU duties too.

No, now was not the time, but soon. After the Chunin exams, he would at least come clean with the identity of Naruto's mother. That would be all; they were not quite mature enough to be told of just how Naruto ended up in the family in the first place. Besides, that would also demand an explanation of her father's identity, and that was completely out of the question.

Naruto's birthday was not all that far away; he supposed that would be as good a time as any to tell her. He would let her deal with Sasuke herself; god knows she understood him better than he did.

"Father! Jiraiya-Sama is asking for you! He just popped up on the walkway! On a frog…" came a hoarse, disgruntled whisper.

Fugaku turned to find his oldest son standing behind him looking somewhat frazzled. Fugaku groaned: no doubt, his old teacher had introduced his prudish son to Naruto's obsession or something equally troublesome. He wasted no time in turning from the door to Sasuke's room and following his eldest towards the living room.

He had sealing rituals and revelation to discuss with his old mentor.

* * *

"You heard me!" Naruto yelled at the perverted old man who had rendered her temporary trainer unconscious.  
"Give me one good reason why I should train a brat like you!" he countered with equal volume to her own, jumping down off the toad he was seated on.

"Cuz if you don't I'll tell the Onsen lady you were peeping in on the women's bath!" she grinned triumphantly.  
"Pft. You think she'll be surprised?" he snorted.

Naruto clenched her fists; This man was smart enough not to be completely goaded into her verbal games. It seemed she would have to up the stakes somewhat.  
In all honesty, she had the perfect technique for this, but she had been hoping to test it out on someone other than the perverted frog-man first.  
Sasuke, for example, would be a perfect test subject.

Unfortunately, old froggie here had not really left her with much of an option. Silently vowing to exact her revenge on him for dragging the technique out of her later, she took a deep breath of air and grinned manically (it was at this point then Jiraiya realised the girl was a sadist in the making).

"SEXY TECHNIQUE!" Naruto bellowed, forcing her chakra into her hand seal and expelling it in a puff of smoke.

As far as Naruto was aware, it was the sight of her imagined, naked, sixteen-year-old form that persuaded the man to finally agree to take over her training from the glasses-guy Fugaku had temporarily arranged for her.

As soon as he had agreed, Naruto released the technique and reverted to her much less curvy twelve-year-old body. She was glad the technique had worked, but she would need to test it out on Sasuke and Itachi to be sure of its effectiveness. Maybe a few of the other boys from her graduating class too.

"I guess it couldn't hurt, I already have enough ideas for volume three with this…" he mumbled to himself, replacing a pad and pen inside a pocket of his short haori.  
"Volume? You're a writer too?" Naruto asked in curiosity.

"I am no mere writer! I am Jiraiya, author of the literary masterpiece Icha Icha Paradise!" he proclaimed, taking up a stance that was supposed to induce a feeling of awe.

Jiraiya spent the rest of the day wishing he had taken Fugaku's advice and kept his mouth shut as he was incessantly hounded for a signed copy of his masterpiece. He really thought his old student had been joking when he had said she was obsessed with the book.

He was wrong. Very, very wrong

* * *

"Naruto, focus your chakra for me again" Jiraiya instructed the girl, who was clutching her stomach with both arms in recoil after the removal of the five-prongs.

Something about the way she manipulated her chakra bothered him. He had never been terribly adept at sensing chakra, but training with the tads had taught him a few things. He could sense chakra a lot better than most people could even without using sage chakra, and he was certain there was something different in her manipulation than usual.

Naruto gave him a suspicious look, but did as instructed. Jiraiya silently gathered natural energy and converted it into sage chakra, enhancing his sensing capabilities. Concentrating on the flow of her chakra, he followed its path through out her network. He noted something strange, and it was not the second, more ominous, source of chakra slowly trickling into and boosting her own.

She was purposely directing her chakra away from her eyes.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in suspicion but said nothing, instead moving from her problems with chakra moulding to summoning contracts. Whatever the girl was thinking of doing was her decision; he knew better than try and stop a woman when they had made their mind up on something thanks to his own team-mate.

Besides, introducing the toads to the progeny of their favourite summoner was a far more appealing notion.

* * *

"What?" Sasuke asked in shock staring at his paler-blond team-mate in a mixture of pure shock and sheer horror.  
"Naruto's in the hospital because she used up too much chakra summoning that giant frog that was hopping around the forest yesterday" Ino repeated, a hint of a snigger in her voice.

* * *

To call the news surprising would have been an understatement. Sasuke had not believed it possible to collapse from chakra exhaustion when there was a god-knows how old demonic canine sealed in a persons gut, constantly supplementing a persons chakra with its own. Apparently, he had been wrong.

thus he found himself hurrying down the streets of Konoha with his paler-blonde team-mate towards the hospital.

"Since when did Naruto have a contract with the toads? I thought only that Sannin had the toad contract?" Sasuke asked, somewhat irritated.

He had assumed that Naruto would eventually sign the same contract as he eventually would; the Nin-Cat contract held by the Uchiha clan. He knew it was possible to have more than one contract, but he didn't imagine a higher contract like the toads would be too pleased with that. For a race of giant amphibians, they were surprisingly big complainers.

Heh. Naruto would drive them mad.

"Come on, we need to find out what room she's in! I want to go visit Lee and Choji too…" Ino grabbed his arm, protesting at his slow pace by reverently pulling him inside the hospital and towards the reception desk.

After gaining the correct room numbers, he followed at a more rapid pace. Far be it to say he was worried, he knew Naruto would not be knocked down by a bit of chakra exhaustion, but something irked him that it had occurred in the first place. Draining herself to exhaustion was a bit much for a couple of frogs wasn't it?

"You go on ahead Sasuke; I want to check up on Choji!" Ino said cheerfully, bringing his thought back to the earth.  
"What? What about Naruto?" he asked in surprise.  
"I'll visit her later!" she replied as if brushing aside an annoying fly.

Sasuke gave her a scrutinising look.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked in horror when Sasuke poked her shoulder.  
"Making sure I'm not in some creepy illusion..." he stated pointedly, forming the beginnings of a dispelling seal.

Ino was acting rather strange; normally Sasuke would be pulling her away from a room they ad already arrived at to make sure Naruto gained enough rest. He could not think of any reasonable expiation for Ino to put of visiting her best friend except a badly executed illusion. Though if his Sharingan had not picked it up, this was not Ino (instead, a very good impersonator) or something was wrong with his eyes.

For her part, Ino found this rather offensive, and showed her displeasure through her feared elbow-to-stomach manoeuvre.

"See if I try to give you two any privacy again!" she growled, walking past the groaning heap on the floor and into Choji's room, making sure to slam the door behind her.

* * *

When Sasuke opened the door to Naruto's room, he felt the headache already growing upon sight of the messy, unmade, and empty bed.

After taking a moment to deposit the takeout ramen on the bedside cabinet, he dashed from the room and down the hall towards the nurse's station for the ward. Naruto could not have gotten far without the nurses noticing; people were hardly going to let the village pariah run around the hospital unchecked.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where Naruto Uzumaki is? She isn't in her room" Sasuke asked the nurse on-duty.

She had pink hair that screamed familiar for some reason. Noting her nametag, he derived the conclusion she was Sakura's mother.  
Her expression at the mention of Naruto's name confirmed his suspicions.

"She's gone again?! I swear, I leave that girl alone for ten minuets and…" she continued grumbling to herself as she marched past Sasuke and down the hall, eyes cast into the different rooms.

"She could have just said she didn't know…" Sasuke grumbled finding himself with an un-answered question and a missing girlfriend.

Muttering curses to himself, he quickly dashed off down the hall in the opposite direction to the opposite pink haired woman, not wishing to fall victim to the irate woman's wrath. He passed several rooms, none of which contained a hint of the blonde haired girl, and was contemplating going a level up onto the roof to search for her, when a familiar voice echoed from an un-searched corridor ahead of him that veered of to the right.

"Ow! Hey, watch it Naruto! You punch him, you punch me too when I use the shadow possession!" Shikamaru complained somewhat stiffly.

His senses that solely existed for picking up on Naruto's knack for getting herself into messy situations spiking, Sasuke sped from the door he had just been about to enter and down the hallway to his right. In his haste, he crashed into s collection of waylaid cleaning supplies. Ignoring the new collection of bruises growing on top those from the forest of death, he pushed the mops and brushes off and continued his pace.

He groaned when he finally caught sight of the correct corridor. There had to be thirty rooms on each side! He was busy inspecting the seventh room when he heard Naruto once aging, sounding like she was about to land herself in a rather messy pile of shit.

"I've got a real-live demon inside me! I won't loose to a creep like you!" she yelled.

It was loud enough for Sasuke to determine he was at the completely wrong end of the corridor. One of the Jonins from the knockout matches rounded the corner and opened the door to one room in particular as Sasuke cranked up his speed. Moments later the creepy redheaded kid from Sunagakure emerged fro the room looking ready to kill not some_thing_ but_ someone._

For a fleeting instant, a horrible sense of fear rushed through his veins at the sight of him. Something about the kid was just off, but very familiar for some reason. It was like when a person described something but could not make the right words come out. They knew the word, but put it into an actual word.

He dashed past the sand ninja, recovering from his momentary freeze, pushing past the green Jonin into the room. Grains of sand were scattered on the floor, and dangerously close to Lee's form on the bed. Deriving a conclusion, he internally thanked the green Jonin for arriving when he did.

Gratitude aside, he was more worried about Naruto. She stood frozen to the spot, raising alarm bells in Sasuke's head. Naruto did not run away from a fight, no matter how tough her opponent. Even if scared out of her wits, she still fought if the need arose (it was one of her most admirable qualities).

No, Naruto was not scared of the sand creep's skills, she was probably exited thinking about the fight they could have in the finals. There was another reason she was so spooked, one that encroached a lot closer to home than simple skills.

She flinched when he placed a hand on her shoulder for a barley discernible instant, before crashing towards him. Her rasping breath revealed her panic far more clearly than simple observation could. He could see Shikamaru giving him the 'troublesome' look over Naruto's shoulder, and could not help giving him a smug triumphant look despite the seriousness of the situation.

"He has… He has something inside him too Sasuke… He's like me… That could have been me…!" Naruto rasped, barley audible.

Sasuke tightened the grip his arms had around her. With that information, it was not hard to do the maths; the sand creep had an inner demon of his own, only he had not managed to turn out like Naruto. Something had gone wrong somewhere, and turned him into the bloodthirsty creep the knew and loved.

It was probably like looking through a mirror into an alternate dimension and meeting her doppelganger.

Sasuke had never seen Naruto this shell shocked before, and he did not like what he saw one bit. He was glad he had bullied Kakashi into teaching him to open his second elemental nature after he and the grey haired guy had sealed the cursed seal off. He was going to need it when he reduced that creep to ashes in the finals.

* * *

**_I didn't think Ino had been given much of a more central role in the story so far, so I put her match in with her little twin. I know things are going somewhat canon right now, but that should change within the next few chapters. As for Sakura, as much as I like her (Suck it up bitches), I felt she was just an added character in the story that wouldn't have any use, so I removed her and replaced her with Inoro. I felt bad breaking up the Ino-Shika-Cho trio so..._**

**_I didn't spend too much time on Naruto's training or Sasuke's because I want to hurry this along to the Chunin exams, and get onto the Search For Tsunade Arc. That will be where things take a divergence of sorts; I think the next chapter will deal with the Chunin exams themselves, and I might shed a little more light for Naruto on her background - thus going into the relationship-problem stuff. I'll try squeeze in a bit more of ItaIno interaction too._**

**_Hope you liked!  
Nat.  
xxx_**


	8. Act VIII: The Precipice Of Calamity

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY **

* * *

**ACT VIII  
~ THE PRECIPICE OF CALAMITY ~**

* * *

"Have the matches started yet?" Itachi asked, taking a seat next to Ino and Choji.

Ino started at the sudden appearance but soon brightened at his presence, moving along to make space for the older teen. Her brother protested, but those vocalisations were silenced by one glare from his elder sibling. Ino had been in a tense mood since the contestants had lined up; the Chunin exams were due to begin any moment, and neither of her team-mates had arrived yet.

"They'll be here Ino; dating or not, Naruto would kill Sasuke if he prevented her from a chance at Icha Icha" Itachi said quietly, hoping to calm the skittish girl.  
"Dating…" Ino murmured, her mood worsening at the word.

It brought back everything that Orochimaru had implied during the second round with horrible clarity; worse, the more she thought about what he had said, the more things made horrifying sense! She didn't really think the words of an S-Class renegade were very reliable, but honestly, what would the creep gain from lying to them?

Itachi watched her pulling on her now-short locks in frustration, head between her knees muttering unintelligible words to herself. An alarmed look crossed his face, and he looked to the younger Yamanaka for an explanation.

"Don't ask me dude; she's blocking the telepathy. Unless dad blasts her with one of his techniques, she isn't saying a _thing,_" Inoro informed Itachi apologetically, not missing the worried frown that cross the older ninja's face.

"Ino, once the matches are over you and I will talk over what happened during the second round," he informed her with a tone that promised pain if she disagreed.

Apparently, Ino missed the tone, or she had no fear. Itachi would go for the latter, considering she tried to take over the mind of an s-class renegade that knocked both her team-mates in the space of a few minuets.

"I can't Itachi! It's not for me to tell!" she growled angrily; Itachi gave an equally displeased glare in return.  
"Ino, you could loose your registration if your with-holding information that could involve village security!" he hissed, careful to avoid the ears of her brother and his plump team-mate.

Ino returned his glare with equal force.  
"I already told you, it's not for me to discuss with you! It isn't my business to tell!" she growled just as quietly.  
"So this is about Naruto or Sasuke?"

Ino cursed under her breath. Damn it, why was he so sharp? Why couldn't she have thought be fore she opened her blabbermouth? Ino was pegged as a gossiper, and she did enjoy a juicy tit-bit now and again, but half her reputation came from her uncontrollable mouth. Naruto was going to murder her! She would make her go through her Spartan training again, without any training!

"What did he tell you Ino? Or do, if that's the case?" he asked, his voice lowering into severity further.

Ino figured that if he already knew the creep had told her something about Naruto or Sasuke, there was nothing she could do about it; what she could do however was try to get some confirmation from Itachi. But how could she do that without alerting him to what she had been told?

An idea popped into her head and she reconnected her telepathy with her brother.  
'_Boar-head, I need your help with something!'_ she informed her twin, her defiant glare not once leaving Itachi.  
_'Sis__?! What do you want me to do?'  
'__Watch Itachi's face, listen to what I say to him, and tell me if he knows anything! And don't you dare repeat anything to anyone or so help me I'll use ten elbow manoeuvres on you!'  
'__T-Ten? Ok, whatever you want Sis! Humble slave awaiting orders!'_

Ino seemed to consider Itachi's serious tone, judging by the look of concentration on her face. After a lot of pondering, she seemed to come to one of her better decisions that month.

"He said something about… Naruto's parents. He recognised her when the Kyuubi chakra came out, he said, well implied really, that Mrs. K wasn't her mother…" she trailed off, watching his face for herself.

She could see a visible reaction, but she had no idea what kind of reaction; she could read Itachi's face usually well, but when he wanted to, he could keep his face as expressionless as his father's. When he did that, she could not make out anything on his face.

'_Anything?'  
'__Y-Yeah… he's shitting himself! Whatever he knows about Naruto, and what you said has him seriously panicked Sis. He knows a lot more than he is letting on… You do too don't you?'  
'__Yeah, but I am not going to tell you what; this is some fucked up shit that does not need passing around more than necessary. I shouldn't really have told Itachi all that but…'  
'__I get it Sis, good luck with that fucked up team of yours. You're probably going to need it'  
'__You have no idea…'_

Itachi stiffened at Ino's words, but he was certain she didn't spot it. How could Orochimaru know Naruto's lineage? He assumed that her Sharingan had once again manifested itself unconsciously; it had done so once before with Kakashi after all. More worrying now though, was Ino's notable concern over the subject.

She knew far more than she was revealing, he could tell, but he was not going to get anymore out of her. Considering this matter concerned her best friend, she would be reluctant to say more than she deemed appropriate. It was a stretch just getting what he ad from her. Her interest still worried him though. Had she seen the Sharingan?

It was possible since she had been the only one left standing. If that was the case then he knew it be a matter of days before she connected all the dots, if she had not done so already. He suppressed a growl of irritation; the damnable Yamanaka girl was too sharp for her own good sometimes, and Naruto's freakish good luck seemed to have rubbed off on her.

He forced a placidly blank expression on his face.  
"You shouldn't believe everything renegade ninjas say Ino; you know better than that. Those kinds of Nin-"

_"Ladies and Gentlemen of all ages, welcome to Konohagakure the leaves and the final round of the Chunin exams!"  
"What?! But Sasuke hasn't arrived yet!" Ino wailed._

Itachi rubbed his temples wearily; his younger siblings could not do anything simply could they?

* * *

Naruto did not like worrying; it left an uncomfortable hollow feeling in the worrier's stomach pit, preventing them from concentration on little else. In spite of this however, she was very worried about Sasuke. Not only had he failed to show up on time - no doubt getting some last minuet practice in - but he was also paired up against the creepy redhead from sand.

After concentrating on a sensory exercise Ino had taught her, she was left in no doubt that the boy contained a demon like her own. There was considerably less of the monsters chakra compared to the fur-ball's, but it was still on a level usually found only in the Kages.

Naruto knew the damage caused by demon chakra better than anyone; it had already sapped a couple of years of her life thanks to the incident in wave and in the second stage of the exams, and her body had adapted to the thicker, denser, mindless, animalistic chakra. Her chakra coils had thicker walls, added layers of protection, and had grown to accommodate a larger capacity of chakra and she still suffered the effects.

If that boy knew how to tap into that chakra… then the best thing for Sasuke to do would be immediately forfeit. She knew he would not though; he seemed to be having some sort of competition with the shadow ninja currently battling the redhead's team-mate lately. That and he loved fighting strong opponents (she could understand that though).

"Naruto, what's wrong with that red head? Why Do I ask this? My colony fears his chakra… Is he like you?" Shino asked her quiet key, to avoid being overheard by the other contestants.

Naruto raised her head and nodded. Shino was one of the few people not on her team or part of her… family… that knew of the Kyuubi. He had always told her there was something odd about her chakra during the Academey years, and she had revealed his assumptions to have been correct during a practice session with team eight; Shino was a trustworthy guy, and knew what information wan not to be spread around unnecessarily.

"Yeah… its no where near as strong as fuzz-butt's is, but its still more than Sasuke can handle if he taps into his parasites chakra! _I_ can't handle it! He had no qualms with killing people either! He did not turn out like I did Shino; people tried to kill him! And there's way too much of his monsters chakra in his system to be good…" she reported, her panic edging into her low tone.

"My colony sensed the same thing… and those Suna ninjas are plotting something. How do I know this? They are being far too secretive to be normal…"  
"Oh geez, why do I get the feeling that shit mountain is going to hit the giant fan within the next few hours?" Naruto groaned, tugging on her poor abused bunches.

Glancing over to the other end of the balcony as the crowd roared their praises for Shikamaru and the Suna girl, Naruto could not help the hollow feeling to sink into the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"No! I told him to stop if he used that chakra! He knows he can't handle it!" Naruto yelled I horror, running to the railing.

"Sasuke, STOP! HE'LL KILL YOU!" she yelled, pulled back by her boyfriend's brother as she did.  
"Calm down Naruto! Sasuke can handle himself, especially with the Kakashi's Chidori up his sleeve," he stated in what he hoped to be a placating manner.

Naruto kicked against the grip around her waist, going so far as to bite him though her attempts to release herself all failed.  
"if _I _cant stand up to that thing's chakra when it lives inside me, then how the hell is _Sasuke_ stand up to the same stuff?!" She screamed, earning confuses looks from some of the nearby Genin, and alarmed once form the senior ninja and villagers.

Itachi said nothing but he refused to release her. A low guttural voice emerged from her throat; she could not stand around and just watch this match go on. They had not talked with the redhead, and they did not know how the effects of demon chakra truly felt. They had never really experienced it fist hand since the Kyuubi first came to the village, and that was nearly thirteen years ago!

For a few weeks after the wave mission, and to a lesser extent during her training with Jiraiya, she had trouble getting her breath after any form of strenuous movement - her lungs had felt like they were burning, and her muscles had been just as fiery. They were underestimating the effects because the fur ball healed her so quickly - it did not seem as serious as it was.  
Sasuke did not have a demon inside him to heal him when he got too close the possessed Suna ninja!

"You don't understand! Let go of me Itachi!" she roared.

She could feel the worried gaze of Ino (who understood her reasons far better than Itachi did having witnessed the Kyuubi chakra for herself) and the confused gazes of her friends but she didn't care. She did not care if Sasuke hated her for it either; she was going to stop that match if it was the last thing-

A horrified shriek of agony came from the ball of sand in the arena, and the hollow feeling in her stomach deepened. Sasuke stood staring at the ball in horror, clutching his arm, as did the two sand ninja on the balcony with Shino.

Naruto sensed for the Suna Genin's chakra, and her struggles stopped when she felt that abominable chakra rising in level. Throwing all caution to the wind, Naruto pushed her chakra into her eyes, distantly feeling the creeping sensation as her blue eyes bled red and black swirls twisted into existence.

"Naruto, no!" Ino protested, but it was too late.

Itachi had looked own at the previously struggling girl and there was no mistaking the shock on his face.  
"How long have you known about it?" he asked simply, though his surprise was more than evident.

"Ever since we came back from the wave mission," Naruto replied, her eyes fixed on the sand ninja in front of her.

She examined the bright blobs of chakra that flowed trough the sandy orb, and felt the bad feeling in her stomach grow when she saw the red mixing into the blue. The sand ninja was using the demon's chakra alright, and the way it was overpowering his own was by no means a good thing.

Feathers suddenly appeared in front of her vision, and despite the fact she knew this was a form of illusion, the lack of use with her Sharingan and illusions in general left her subject to its sleepy effects.

* * *

In the stands, Fugaku Uchiha was standing abruptly in his seat.

For just a moment, he could have sworn he had seen a man in an orange mask poking out from the shadows of the opposite stands, but the sudden onslaught of sleep inducing feathers had distracted him.

Where he thought he had seen an orange mask, was only empty space. Fugaku had no time to contemplate his observations as the invasion began.

* * *

"Oi! Naruto! Wake up!" Ino hissed, poking her friend in the side ferociously.  
"Whazzappenin?" Naruto asked, blearily waking form the illusion.

She gave a yelp of surprise as a man with two kunai jammed into the front of his skull flew over head, and ducked down under the aisles of seating. Was she still in an illusion? Oh god, what had Sasuke told her to do when she was trapped in an illusion? Was it blast her chakra or stop her chakra? Damn it! She'd rather have the perfect useable memory than the Sharingan right now!

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Ino asked.  
"In case you haven't notice dead-men are flying! This is an illusion!"  
"It's not an illusion you dolt! Its just Itachi and Scarecrow going blitzo on the Oto ninjas!" Ino barked, flinging a kunai of her own towards a half moving sound ninja sprawled nearby; the moving ceased abruptly.

"Did you say Oto ninjas?" Naruto asked, gaining some of her senses back.  
By the tone of her voice, she was not happy with the presence of the enemy ninjas.

"They invaded the village with the Suna ninjas! That snake freako is fighting the old geezer up inside that box!" Ino explained, pointing up towards one of the buildings that made the arena; Flashes of ninja techniques could be seen within a purple barrier.

Naruto ducked behind the seat once again as another dead body flew over her head. She would question the calmness of such action later on, but now her man priority was going after Sasuke. That sand ninja with the demon had looked like he was about to- no scratch that, he had not had any marbles to begin with.

"Naruto! Ino! Wake up Shikamaru! You're going after Sasuke and those sand ninjas!" Kakashi called out, throwing of one of the many opponents.

The two blonds perked up at the thought, even if it was just to escape the airborne corpses.  
"For the next however-long this takes, your wish is my command scarecrow! You say _'jump' _and, I will ask '_how high?'_ Just STOP THROWING ALL THE DEAD GUYS TOWARDS US!" Naruto yelled, dodging another dead ninja.

Behind her Ino was busy kicking Shikamaru in the side to 'wake' him from the illusion. The growl of pain indicated that her attempts had been successful as Kakashi summoned up one of his tracking dogs. The tiny dog took one look at Naruto's enraged face as she continued to voice her protests to her teacher, and turned a pleading look onto his summoner

"Please don't tell me I have to go with her again!"  
"Shut up doggie!"

* * *

Sasuke grimaced as he took shelter from the demonic redhead behind a tree; he had presumed Naruto had been overreacting when she began yelling at him from the stands, but he was quickly beginning to rethink that notion. The redhead was firing of blasts of thick red chakra the chomped through his skin at the merest touch.

He had a much greater appreciation for his girlfriend's ability to withstand the Kyuubi's chakra; to have that stuff constantly mingling with her own was an amazing feat. He supposed this damage was half the reason the monster had been sealed inside a baby instead of an adult.

Naruto's body had grown up with the stuff in her system, and had adapted to it. His on the other hand… well, he decided it would be best to finish this fight as quickly as possible. If he let it continue too long there was a fair chance that he would be finished of by those flying balls of chakra.

The boy screamed something about having his blood and Sasuke shivered, focusing his chakra into his palm and creating his third Chidori in the current battle - the last one before exceeding his limit.

* * *

"Fugaku! I got a bone to pick with you after this invasion is over!" Inochi Yamanaka roared over the fighting to his old ANBU team-mate.

He cast a mind-body disturbance technique on a group of perhaps five sand and sound ninjas, ploughing through the rest towards the Uchiha patriarch with kunai and shuriken. Behind him, his old Genin team were creating just as much havoc with their own techniques.

"I could tell you the same thing! Your daughter made my oldest grow hormones! I'm having enough problems with Sasuke already!" Fugaku snapped back at the man in reply.

He disposed of several more ninja with a well-placed fireball before pausing to catch his breath.  
"What are the damages so far?" he asked.

"They hit the clan compounds pretty hard from what I Tsume told me!" Last I saw your place was in pretty bad shape, not that my own is doing any better, one of those damn snakes landed on the maze!" his fellow clan head informed him.

"I see…"

Fugaku contemplated his options; he was certain what he had seen earlier had been no fluke. That being the case, he could not afford to be dealing with any of these ninja as he would any other mission. He had no way of telling who one of the man's underlings was. This in mind he closed his eyes, and re-opened them revealing a completely different design; one large black ring, dotted with six smaller ones, connected to a mid-sized central ring, each ring containing a smaller black dot. His old team-mate saw the design and his eyes widened.

"You're not going to use…?!" he barked in unmitigated surprise.

Fugaku gave him no answer, concentrating on closing one of his eyes and focusing the other. He winced visibly as blood trickled down his cheek, veins in his open eye visibly pressurised.  
"Fujin…" Fugaku snarled, vision fixed on those with sand and sound forehead protectors.

* * *

'_Running after this creep by myself wasn't the best idea I've had…'_ Sasuke cursed to himself, slamming face down onto a thick tree branch.

He could feel the cursed seal prickling across his skin, after effects of using one more Chidori than he should have. He did not even have a trickle of chakra to maintain the suppressor, and the thing itself was spreading over his skin like a disfiguring disease. Something was whispering at the back of his mind but he firmly stomped it down.

Not that it did him any good, for the effort of just that left him inert on the tree branch. He was an easy target fro the half-human half-sandy thing ninja that was intent on drinking his blood like a warped version of a vampire.

Moments before the crazed sand ninja made contact with his body, he rolled of the branch; broken bones were far preferable to whatever sandy had in store for him; he had overheard Kiba talking to his team about the creep a few days ago, and he had no desire to have the same end.

The broken bones however did not come. He was caught by two blondes, the paler one immediately transferring some of her own chakra onto his shoulder, just above the spreading mark. He could feel Naruto holding forcing his immovable body up into a sitting position behind him.

"Use my chakra and force that thing back into its cage Sasuke!" Ino commanded, thanking god her father had made her study basic medical techniques for the Chunin exams and Naruto's Spartan training had increased her reserves.

Using Naruto's was a no-no; with the Kyuubi chakra mixing into her own, there was every chance that it would do more harm than it would good. They would have to experiment on some dead animals before letting her anywhere near human flesh.

Doing as instructed, Sasuke poured all his will into forcing the black flecks back where they had come from. Naruto was scribbling onto a sheet of paper with her blood, making a seal, which she slammed onto of the mark the moment it had fully receded. It was not a complicated seal, but Naruto had a knack for them, and it would at the very least help in pushing the unwanted ominous chakra back.

"the old pervert taught me; I'll have to teach you later in case I go Kyuubifiction on you again - they'll at least suppress it a little bit, so figured it would do the same thing on the doom-hickey" Naruto informed him, removing the paper and leaving behind a splattered red mark atop the three black marks.

"Thanks for that; it was the most I could do to roll of the tree branch" he informed them, finally regaining control of his body.

He turned his attention back to the sand ninja. He may not be able to use any actual techniques, but he could still pummel the arse into submission.

"Sasuke! You shouldn't be moving!" Ino berated.  
"Never mind that Ino; we need al the help we can get with this one!" Naruto countered in his defence.

Sasuke almost smiled; then she mad an addition to her words.  
"Besides, he's too damn stubborn to listen anyway! Remember his arm during the wave mission?"

* * *

The previously still air began to stir, misty blackish-grey wisps forming in the air before swerving ferociously into the enemy ninjas, tearing into their limbs and bodies with rapidity too fast for the normal eye to follow. No movement was wasted; the attacks were quick, precise, and predominately fatal before moving onto the next target.

Fugaku's gaze shifted to one of the giant snakes - aware of his old teacher crushing a distant one with and even larger toad. The veins in his eyes shrivelled further, and the red rivulets increased their flow down his cheek as he focused on the beast.

"Amaterasu…" he hissed, before clutching his hand to his bleeding eye socket.

The black wisps suddenly grew and darkened, twisting into black flames that licked with white-hot heat into the sand and sound bodes - corpse or let out a low whistle as the near invisible black wisps hacked and tore through the enemy ninjas.

"I haven't seen those since we were in the Anbu with Minato and Tsume…" he commented.

Fugaku snorted.  
"I'm not dead yet, Inochi…" he grumbled.

The breathlessness in his voice betrayed him as he concentrated on the flames. They swerved and flared upwards, devouring the invaders with ferocious fire, leaving a black charred mark in their wake. A flash of orange caught his eye and the flames immediately scorched towards that sight. Inochi barley had time to blink as the flamed suddenly turned on their controller.

"FUGAKU!"

* * *

Sasuke hacked frantically at the sand tightening around Ino, occasionally casting a glance to Naruto's ongoing battle with the red headed sand-hybrid. An ominous familiar chakra had been released and Naruto had all but beaten him into freeing their other team-mate.

He understood her logic; her body was adapted to the same chakra - he did not. Given his near chakra-less state he was in no condition to be fighting the stuff, but he was still uncomfortable with it. He did not know if that was because it was Naruto, or because of his own pride.

He wondered if tearing up an explosion tag would help demolish the sand prison that constricted Ino against the tree trunk, and pulled a tag from his kunai pouch. It was blown from his hand by a gust of wind, a shake of the earth, and a giant pulse of chakra emission.

He looked up in horror; the red head was not a red head in any shape or form anymore. There was a giant Tanuki roaring something, seemingly delighted by freedom. He was shell shocked; the thing was huge, but Naruto had been adamant that the Kyuubi was far more powerful. How powerful did that make the nine-tails?

He was thrown onto his back by another chakra induced earthquake and was greeted with a giant toad; he had only seen the summon in books on Konoha's history, and during the lessons on summoning, but he immediately recognised Gamabunta.

The two beings crashed together, creating blasts of wind and cannons of water in the midst of their battle, and Sasuke was left feeling dumbstruck and inferior. Head summons took so much chakra that only Kage level ninja were capable of calling on them; has she used the Kyuubi's chakra? There would certainly be enough of it. A hacking cloud of smoke indicated a transformation, and Sasuke jerked back at the sight of the nine tailed fox where the toad had been.

He had no idea what was going on, but why the Kyuubi? Of all the things to turn the toad into, it had to be that? What of one of the other ninjas caught sight of it? Questions would be raised over the stability of the seal! God, she was an idiot sometimes!

He made out a small speck jumping onto the head of the deranged sounding animal, clashing with another blurred speck before the toad boss completely disappeared, and the sand creature began screaming with rage.

Next thing he knew, the two were on the ground perhaps a hundred meters away from him, Naruto dragging herself towards the alarmed red head despite her exhaustion. A groan from Ino indicated the sand had fallen away, and he caught her before she hit the ground. He jumped from the tree branch, leaving Ino against the tree trunk until he could come back, before hurrying towards his girlfriend.

"Naruto, you can stop! Ino's fine now!" he told her landing down beside her.

He ignored the stunned, curious, perhaps even wistful look the redhead was giving them. Naruto must have said something to him that hit home, since he did not exude the same dangerous aura as he had earlier, but Sasuke was still eager to get away from him.

He placed one hand on her back and another underneath the crook of her knees, lifting the exhausted girl from the ground. She did not bother protesting, as she normally would, which spoke volumes on the extent of her exhaustive state.

"Urgh… my ribs… whazzappenin no- Naruto! Sasuke!" Ino shrieked, seeing her team-mates walking towards her.

She hissed and swore when too much movement aggravated her ribs.

* * *

When the limped back to the village, Sasuke doing his best to support his team-mates (he would never ever say it, even on pain of death, but they were heaver than they looked) one arm slung over his shoulders for each, it was to pure destruction.

The bodies of three giant snakes were obvious amongst the rubble, as were the bodies of Konoha, Oto, and Suna ninja alike; some of the Suna and Oto ninjas were only recognisable by the charred forehead protectors they wore.

"Oh my god…" Ino breathed, horrified by some of the corpses - reduced to bleeding charred lumps of flesh.

Chaos came from the leaf ninja surrounding them; medics ran in complete disorder and other ninja were clearing the rubble, freeing those buried under the chaotic mess that swallowed Konoha.

"STOP THEM!" A familiar yelled trough the chaotic crowd - that scarred examiner, Sasuke was sure.

Turning to look at the voices origination, six figures were hurtling down the street, one easily recognisable as Orochimaru. Two of his subordinates, the other two closely following, supported him. A man in a ling hooded black cloak led the group.

This time, confrontation did not even enter their minds. Orochimaru and the hooded man shot one glance at them, and the snake summoner gave a liquidly sinister smirk. He mumbled something to one of his subordinates and a two-headed white haired man formed a single-handed seal.

There was a burning pain in Sasuke's shoulder as the cured seal ran free from its seal-bind, spreading malignantly over his face and down his arm. Ino gave him a horrified look, and yelled for someone to help. Amidst the searing burning under his flesh, he caught sight of Naruto; she was staring at the man in the hood with a look of pure terror on her face.

"T-That's impossible… He was killed…!" she mumbled, her body shaking like a leaf.

The hooded man turned his head in interest, holding back from the group to momentarily examine the group of Genin. The surrounding ninja seemed to be as terrified of the man as Naruto, as he and Ino were, and made no move to stop him as he crossed over to their position amongst the rubble.

He grasped Naruto by the throat, hoisting her up in the air to examine her with a closer eye.  
"Let go of her!" Sasuke yelled, fighting his incapacitating pain to grasp a kunai.

He forced it into the man's leg as Naruto scraped at the hand blocking her airway and kicked her feet, trying to remover herself from his grasp. The kunai phased right through his leg; he stared at the man in alarm, confusion, and fear. How could he just move through an object without hand signs?!

Naruto, seemingly frustrated by the physical attempts to release herself, glared at the man with swirling red eyes, trying to force her last-resort illusion on him. He titled his hooded head in surprise before letting out an amused chuckle.

"Orochimaru was right about you; you are certainly surprising" he mused, sounding entertained.  
"Y-You… di-ed…! I sa-w… the kyu-ubi…! It's chak-ra… h-it you! Ho-w…" she choked, prying at his fingers.

"My, my, my; it seems the Uchiha blood runs strongly in you. I'm amazed you can remember the day of your birth _Jinchuuriki…" _the man spoke in a calm, colleted voice, sounding as if he had found a five Ryo coin upon the ground.

Sasuke was alarmed by his knowledge, but the surprise and shock on Naruto's face made his own dwarf in comparison.

"…but I'm afraid I have no use for you, not for the moment. I will however, leave a parting gift; it's the least I can do since you've tickled my interest so much…" he directed an unseen gaze at her from Sasuke's viewpoint, but he heard Ino's horrified whisper clearly:

"Sh-Sharin-gan!" Naruto gasped, mimicking her female team-mate.

Her hands ceasing their clawing ath the gloved hand around her throat, and she fell limp in the man's hold. He tossed her towards Ino, who caught her friend before she could make contact with the wreckage.

"Take care of that one," he ordered, not failing to cast his gaze on Sasuke; through his hood, Sasuke could make out an orange mask with an eyehole revealing a mature Sharingan.

The man turned on his heel, sprinting off after Orochimaru and his companions without another word. It took Sasuke several minuets to break out of the fear that had overwhelmed him upon sight of the man's eye; he'd never felt anything like it amongst the clan, it radiated malicious intent, choked him without the use of appendages.

"Naruto! Naruto, what the hell?! Wake up! Wake up!" Ino yelled.

Sasuke was jerked out of the fear the man had put him in, and immediately crossed towards Naruto and Ino on shaky feet - the cursed seal still displaying its affects. Naruto was clearly under a form of Illusion by the glazed look in her eyes, and Ino was frantically pushing her already meagre chakra supplies into the brighter blonde.

"Sasuke she won't wake up! I can tell it's an illusion, but she just won't wake up no matter how much chakra I use!" she cried, clearly panicking.  
"We need to get hel-" his eyes, that had been scanning he face stared at a red patch underneath the blonde girl.

Moving swift as lightning, he gently moved to examine her back and he heard Ino scream; on her back, were three large profusely bleeding scratches.

* * *

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at since arriving in the hospital to find his shaken brother standing in the doorway, struggling to catch his breath. His ANBU uniform had a few slashes, but he seemed relatively unharmed.

After being taken to the hospital by one of the other Jonin, Kakashi had arrived and re-sealed his cursed mark, much to his relief. Naruto had been rushed into one of the wards for injuries or condition brought on by illusions, and he had yet to find out what had happened to her.

"What happened?" Itachi asked taking a weary seat on the bench next to his brother.  
"I don't know; there was a man leaving with Orochimaru and…" he paused, wondering how to explain without revealing the fact Naruto had a Sharingan.

"I already know. I knew before you did" Itachi stated, drawing a stunned look from his brother.

Sasuke saved the questions for later and proceeded to explain the encounter with the strange masked man, noting the building worry on Itachi's face as he did.

"That…is not at all good," Itachi concluded after listening raptly to the explanation.  
"Really? I didn't notice at all…"

Itachi ignored Sasuke's sarcastic reply.  
"Where is father when he's needed?" he grumbled to himself.

He had been searching for almost an hour, but no one had seen hide nor hair of his father; it was an uncomfortable feeling given that the man who had been walking in their midst under the orange mask had a significant grudge against him.

Apparently, his father had noticed too; he recognized the signs of his two deadly techniques on the west side of the village. Knowing the damage that befell his eyesight, they were very rarely used - only a very dangerous opponent was given the honour of witnessing them. His thoughts were interrupted by the presence of one of the hospital doctors.

"You are here for Naruto Uzumaki?" he asked, his expression looking rather unoptimistic.  
"Yes" Itachi answered, standing up top talk with the man directly.

"There is a problem with the illusion she has been placed under; her medical records state that her guardian is Fugaku Uchiha, and I need his permission before attempting any kind of treatment. Is it possible to speak with him?" the frazzled looking ma asked.

Itachi felt like screaming or cursing in a manner very reminiscent of his sister or her blonde friend.  
"I'm sorry doctor; I've been looking for him myself, but I haven't found hide nor hair of him. Would you at least be able to tell us what's wrong with her?" he asked, maintaining his neutral shell.

The doctor sighed.  
"Fine; were too busy to argue." he grumbled.

"The illusion cast on her is as far as we can tell, forcing her to relive certain events; we don't know what exactly, but they include some form of physical injury." he began.

"This…I don't know what it is to be honest, but it is forcing a physical manifestation of her injuries to appear, and no medical techniques are having any lasting effect. After thirty minuets, her wounds reopen," he explained, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Sasuke did not like the look on his brother's face at all.

"What does that mean?" he asked.  
"It means that, unless we can break this illusion-like technique, she will likely bleed to death within two weeks at the most without treatment"

* * *

_**I do not know about anyone else from the UK, but in my opinion, all these damn frozen molecules of hydrogen and oxygen are DISGUSTING! **_

_**This amount of snow is beyond a joke now! I cannot walk down my garden path without falling on my as every time I move! It was all good at chrismas, but I have college to go to and I can barley walk down the street!**_

_**This is sick and wrong I tell you! It is a bloody met office conspiracy! That is probably why I made this chapter so twisted; I really needed to vent, and Naruto and Sasuke were easy to vent on. As long as I'm writing this, theyre probably not going to catch a break for a while. **_

_**At least, not until all this DAMNABLE FUCKING SNOW MELTS!!! I cant stand all the fucking white anymore! This all because of industrialisation I tell you! It ruined our ozone and now we're moving back into the fucking ice age! I swear to god, penguins would enjoy the climate up here right now!**_

_**Penguins! Pingu is going to m ove into my garden! This is plain wrong ad disgusting and I can't stand on the pavement anymore and there's too much damn snow!**_

_**Phew. Rant over. Who saw the last manga chapter? Sakura just confuses me now! How does 'oh my god, Sasuke evil' generate 'I'll follow you!"? loved the Sharingan club Madara's got going though; he's so twisted its adorable! Has Sasuke gone apeshit or what? Really freaky drawing there Kishi; I think your stash is out of date. **_

_**Go buy a new one. You have problems if you're adding flashbacks to the already insanely fucked up Chunin exam arc with flashbacks. Am I the only one who thinks that?**_

_**I tried to keep up with Kishi's naming of Japanese gods in Uchiha techniques for Fugaku's Mangekyo technique; Fujin is the Japanese god of winds, according to Wikipedia. Or one of them… Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; I love Wikipedia and all, but I'll be the first to admit it can be particularly unreliable (Yeah, I killed Fugaku, get over it. It was a necessary death).**_

_**Reveiws, as always, are appreciated.**_

_**Nat**_

_**xxx**_


	9. Act IX: Meeting Crackpot Number Three

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY**

* * *

**ACT IX  
~ MEETING CRACKPOT NUMBER THREE ~**

* * *

"What do you mean? Are you saying you can't do anything?!" Sasuke demanded loudly, though the stirring emotions in his voice were far from anger.

"Well… no. Not without her guardians permission; she has yet to achieve Chunin rank, and not being of adult civilian age, we can't attempt the few treatments that might have any affect without it," the doctor informed them.

Sasuke stood frozen to the floor, not wanting to believe the man's words, but having no choice having seen the blood with his own eyes.  
"But she heals!" he protested fixing the doctor with a pointed glare; his age was an indication that he would know of what she contained.

The doctor gave him a surprised look, before receiving an encouraging nod from Itachi.  
"Judging by the effects of the technique, I'd say whatever was used on her is preventing the…. Uh…"

"Stinking Deranged Ball of Fuzz?" Sasuke suggested, receiving an alarmed look in reply.  
"Whatever this technique is, it is preventing her tenant from speeding the regeneration of her cells completely, it is being _controlled,_" he stressed in a hushed voice.

"I'm a Medical Ninja, and I don't concern myself with battles when I can avoid it, but whomever she crossed paths was clearly very dangerous to have accomplished this; I'll do my best to make sure she survives, but please find Mr. Uchi-"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible" a familiar voice interjected.

A grey haired man was walking down the hallway with a grim expression on his face; Sasuke recognised him as the man who had trained Naruto for the exams, the Sannin who had first sealed away his doom-hickey, and removed the two five pronged seals the Snake had placed on Naruto.

"Jiraiya-Sama!" the doctor spluttered, nearly dropping his clipboard.  
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but Fugaku is… he was one of our losses. Her guardian would now be me; I have the paperwork here" she informed them, before handing the doctor several papers.

Sasuke fell back onto the bench, face glazing over. His father was dead? That was a mistake; he'd seen his father fight numerous times. He was one of the strongest ninja in the village, right up with scarecrow and his green stalker! He couldn't be dead!

He was a student of Jiraiya, along with the fourth Hokage, and not to sound overbearing, but he was an Uchiha! He was capable of at least standing up to Orochimaru for a decent length of time! It would take one heck of a powerful…

The man in the mask!

Shaking his head - pushing his father to the backburner - he forced his attention back to Naruto. The doctor, satisfied with the papers, was going over the various treatments they could try with the man and his older brother; his grim expression was not promising.

"…but this is only a theory, and if I'm honest, there's no ninja in Konoha with the medical abilities to even attempt this operation; the best I can do is try, but I cant see high odds of survival…"he informed them.

Jiraiya frowned I thought.  
"When you say Konoha; you mean there's no one with the ability actually in the village itself, yes? In that case there is one person who could perform the operation," he ventured.

The medic's eyes widened.  
"You can't possibly mean her! Yes, she would easily be able to perform the operation, but there is no way to know where she is! You know this better than anyone Jiraiya-Sama!"

The old man grinned.  
"It's a good thing I know where she is right now then isn't it? How long did you could keep those wounds closed?" he asked; there was a maniacal gleam in his eye.  
"T-Two weeks, but that would be a miracle in and of itsel-"  
"Perfect! You do that!"

He turned to the two stunned Uchihas with a less genial expression.

"Itachi, as far as I'm aware, you're the new clan head. Your grandparents are willing to take you and Sasuke in until the compound and main house are completely reconstructed, and Sasuke will be in your custody. I don't know anything about the clan- you'll have to figure that out for yourself."

He turned his gaze on Sasuke.  
"As for you, I'll be borrowing you and your other blonde team-mate. I'll be needing your help with something; be at the gate for six am tomorrow morning. You heard what the medic said!"

And with that, he headed back down the corridor, leaving two stunned brothers in his wake.

* * *

"So to clarify, _again_, Mr. Mask's freaky Sharingan thingy is more than the hospital medics know what to do with, so were going on what could possibly a wild goose chase for the third crackpot?"

"Yes" Sasuke replied.  
"….I still can't believe any of this" Ino sighed, trailing behind the old ninja with Sasuke.

He was much quieter than usual, but she attributed that to all the bad news he seemed to be getting recently. She wanted to gouge the stupid swirly eyes out of that masked guy for hurting Naruto like that, preferably with blunt spoons.

Thoughts of the masked man brought up the choked words her friend had hissed at him to the front of her thoughts; what did she mean, she remembered him? The man had verified it in a roundabout way, but not very clearly. Who on earth was that man?

"What's wrong with you? You look constipated…" Sasuke asked, giving her scrunched expression an alarmed look.

Ino made good use of her famed elbow-stomach manoeuvre.  
"Ow! Jesus, way to freak out Ino!"  
"I was thinking you git!"  
"And it took so much effort?"  
"…you did not just say that Uchiha!"

"Oi, will you brats be quiet? I'm trying to make sure were on path!"  
"…Ino you're right; this is going to be a wild goose chase"  
"Isn't it?"  
"Shut up you brats!"

* * *

"What?! Hokage? I thought you were looking for her so she could heal Naruto!" Ino raged, standing up from her seat to glare at the old ninja, fists balled.

Sasuke was equally surprised, but was much better at hiding it than Ino; a brief flicker was all that crossed his face. The woman, Tsunade, gave him and Ino a scrutinising.  
"Who are these brats Jiraiya? I thought you weren't going to take on any more students?"  
"Believe me, the one I have is already nearly more than I can handle; these are Kakashi's trolls" her old team-mate snorted in reply.

"Ino, Sasuke, this is my old team-mate Tsunade - I'm certain you've heard of her. Tsunade; Ino Yamanaka, and Sasuke Uchiha" he introduced them.  
"Kakashi passed a team?" she asked incredulously, before adding: "Who's the other one?"  
"Naruto Uzumaki" Sasuke informed her, speaking for the first time since meeting the medic woman.

He did not spot the flicker of recognition cross her face, but Ino did, and she caught his gaze; Sasuke had to wonder if her ability to read facial expressions was really as bad as she claimed. Sure, her brother was better, but she picked up things no other ninja would have been able to spot with ease.

"You know her! You know everything don't you? Both of you do! That's why that snake creep knew too!" Ino raged, glaring at the woman with ferocity; the woman simply blinked as Ino continued to rant.

"If you know who she is, then you'll come back with us and heal her! If you don't she'll die, and if you run off like a scared little rabbit, then I'll scramble your brains so bad you wont be able to tell what chakra is anymore an- mrgmph!"

Sasuke placed a hand over her mouth and yanked her back down into her seat irritably.  
"Shut up Ino! She's not going to do anything if you threaten her!" he hissed, noting the curios expression on the woman's face.

The woman let out a loud long snort of laughter, much to his surprise, and smacked her sake cup onto the table with a loud bang amidst her mirth.  
"God, she's exactly like Inochi when I was beating chakra control into him!"  
"Uh… What?" Ino asked, seeming somewhat confused  
"I like you girl; you have spunk, so I'll indulge you. Tell me why you want my help so much and I'll consider taking up that request"

Ino looked at the grey haired man warily, and he gave her a nod. Still looking somewhat shell shocked, she explained the circumstances Naruto had wound herself up in with far more detail than Sasuke would have been able to - even slipping in a few rudimentary medical terms.

"I see Inochi's been teaching you medical techniques," the woman noted.  
"Only the basics, but that's what happened, and the doctors don't have the skill to counteract the technique, so unless you help her shell die from the blood loss!" Ino grit her teeth at the woman, as if daring her to say no.

Tsunade turned  
"And you? I can tell just by looking at you your Mikoto's youngest boy. Why are you here?"  
"Same reason as Ino… Well, sort of…" he replied loosely, his mind warping at her statement.  
"Humour me" she persisted.

Ino his her puzzlement with the woman's wording; Youngest boy? Was she accidentally implying that Sasuke's mother had given birth to a girl? That was impossible! Sasuke did not have any… Her gaze whipped wide to meet the woman's own; even Ino could tell by the twitch of her mouth she was cursing her slip of her tongue.

Sasuke remained silent for a long moment; he had no doubt in his mind that Ino's assumption she and the older man knew everything about his girlfriend. If he got into their good graces, maybe they would be able to wheedle some proper information out of them. It would be more reliable than the ramblings of a certifiably insane renegade he had not even been awake to hear in any case.

"Dating" he grumbled, not meeting her gaze.

Tsunade choked on her sake, before turning to her old team-mate.  
"He's joking right?" she whispered, trying to keep her expression from that far-too-sharp-for-her-own-good daughter of her old student.

Jiraiya sighed.  
"Apparently Fugaku didn't think it was a good idea to clarify things; he was pulling his hair out"  
"…I need more sake" Tsunade sighed, looking around for another bottle.  
"The blonde one is stalking Itachi too," Jiraiya added, in a slightly louder tone.

Ino turned a shade of red close to the skin of a tomato in colour.  
"I'm not stalking him!" she protested, earning a snort from Sasuke.

"You tried using Iwan voodoo on him" he stated, a slight layer of disgust in his voice.  
"That wasn't my idea! It was Naruto's and it didn't even wor- Hey, how the hell do you know that?!"

Tsunade gulped another glass of sake before slamming the cup onto the table once again.  
"Alright; I'll heal your team-mate, but after that I'm gone. I'm not sticking around for that Hokage gig"

She took great pains to stress her intent after healing Naruto, but Sasuke could care less; she was going to fix Naruto. That was all he cared about. Ino was whooping with the sound of victory (well, half victory at any rate), much to the woman's amusement.

* * *

"_Bloody hell_, you weren't kidding when you said this place was trashed" Tsunade noted, gazing at the wreckage of the village.

Sasuke noted that many of the buildings were on their way to being rebuilt, and wondered if his own home was fixed. It was not that he minded staying with his grandparents - the Senbei they made really was some of the best in Konoha - but it just wasn't the same.

He noted that it wouldn't be the same without his father either, but brushed the thought aside; he had already finished his momentary grieving. His father would not be happy if he spent his days moping over his death, - he would probably turn in his grave - and he had no intentions going against that belief.

The medics were almost in tears of relief when they entered the hospital with Tsunade, and immediately dragged her off to examine Naruto. Sasuke had to force himself not to stumble at the sight of her; she was horribly pale; hooked up to several blood drips that seemed to be doing no good at all. Ino, brazen harpy that she was, had tears scratching the corners of her eyes.

"This is a nasty technique…" Tsunade mumbled to herself, glowing hands of chakra tracing the wounds on Naruto's back, the two Genin watching with bated breath (and Ino's case fascination).

"You're lucky I got here so quickly; any longer and she would have been beyond help," she informed them gravely after her examination.

"I can start immediately, but…" She wringed her hands together, clearly uncomfortable with what she was about to say: "…she needs a bone marrow transplant where the wounds have kept opening; If I healed them again they would probably cause an infection" she finished.

"So? There's bound to be a matching donor in the village somewhere!" Ino protested, like Sasuke, not recognising the problem with the requirement.  
"Civilian bone marrow cannot be used to treat a ninjas; it's all to do with not using chakra. And I cant use any old ninja's either; while the marrow may be compatible, if the chakras are in opposition it would be just as bad" she explained vaguely.

Ino frowned, thinking over this new information to herself. Sasuke was doing the same thing; he reached the conclusion quicker than his team-mate.  
"You need bone marrow from a close family member," he stated.

He immediately held out his forearm; these oldies already knew he and Naruto were related. Only close family members, from the same main line, had the Sharingan so Sasuke could safely assume his would be compatible with Naruto's.

"I'll do it"  
"Sasuke, what the hell are you on?!" Ino demanded.  
"Oh, like they don't know anything we don't Ino!" he replied exasperatedly.

He turned back to the medic woman  
"I don't know how close a match it'll be, but you already know she has the Sharingan; the furthest she could be is a second cousin" he stated calmly.  
"You knew? And you're dating anyway?" Tsunade asked in surprise.

"We didn't know, Naruto's Sharingan manifested by itself, so we just went with it" he replied blandly.  
"And you knew too?" the blonde woman asked Ino.  
"It wouldn't be the first time; just look at the Hyuuga clan" Ino waved a hand in the air blandly.

"Besides, if Naruto and Sasuke get married, and I manage to wake up Itachi's hormones, then she'll be my sister for real!" she added, and Sasuke shivered.

Tsunade stared at them for a long moment.  
"You lot are crazy, you know that?" Tsunade mumbled.

Jiraiya sniggered.

* * *

The removal of bone marrow was a lot more painful than Sasuke had originally expected, but he was not going to complain if it was going to save Naruto's life. Immediately after the marrow harvesting, the blonde woman whisked Naruto off to an operating theatre with her assistant and the male medic. It was during the hours he sat waiting outside that Itachi came to have the long conversation he had been expecting; Ino had informed him of Naruto's Sharingan use during his match.

"How much do you know?" he asked bluntly.  
"She's close enough to have the Sharingan. That's about it; Ino has her own ideas, but they want to look at those by themselves first" Sasuke replied, not at all worried about his brothers opinions or reaction.

If Itachi had been against things, he would have been more obviously unsupportive. If there were anyone who had been unsupportive, that would probably have been his father, understandable from the paternal view.

"I won't stop you, but I will tell you I can't answer all the questions you're going to ask later; I never got a chance to ask all of them, and father was very vague with his brief…" Itachi stated pointedly, some irritation creeping into his voice.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but did not prod for answers; his brother had stated any curiosities would have to be satisfied himself. Itachi was not going to stand in his way, but he was not going to egg him along either.

Itachi nodded in approval, shifting his shoulder so his brother's second team-mate had a slightly more comfortable angle for resting her head. Besides Sasuke's bone marrow, Ino had given out a large amount of blood - with the recent invasion; stocks of type b were running rather low.

The donation had left her rather lethargic, and she had been too stubborn to take an actual bed - stating there were plenty of others needing them more thanks to the sound ninjas. Five hours they had been waiting so far, and the surgery light still flickered above the door to the operating room.

Sasuke's thoughts focused on finding out more about how Naruto had gained her Sharingan; Itachi would not actually tell him, and he was certain that the medic woman and perverted old man would be unwilling to share.

He focused on what Ino and Naruto had discussed before they had all ended up having a water fight: 'pull the influence cards on the nurses' Ino had told Naruto. He assumed that meant going into the permanent records of births; unless Naruto had been born in a ditch, there was bound to be a birth certificate.

It would be a fairly simple matter to get past the nurses if he told them he had been sent by his brother; he could say the certificates were needed for registering the deaths within the clan, something Itachi had been doing during their eight day trip.

'…_I'll tell you what he said. I promise, just let me do this by myself, okay?'_

He frowned; it was not like Naruto to keep secrets from him. Even after discovering the Kyuubi for herself, she hadn't hidden it from him for very long. For her to ask that meant whatever Snakey-Pedo had told her had done more than shaken her.

He didn't like that, but he had promised he would let her find out by herself first, and he wasn't about to back out of that unless she told him otherwise. He supposed he could just relay the idea to Ino; but how would Naruto get past? She had no influence to speak of, and was generally hated by the populace.

There were seals throughout the building to prevent ninja using transformations, and though a skilled Jonin could easily bypass them, he couldn't say the same of a Genin with sub-par chakra control. Naruto would never be able to regulate her chakra enough to cast a full illusion either.

The doors to the operating room opened, and a troop of medics carefully wheeled out the gurney Naruto had been rushed in on. He could see residual black ink on her arms where medical seals had been attached as she was wheeled past and into one of the intensive care rooms.

The blonde woman came over to Itachi and his younger companions with a grim smile on her face; it promised good news in once case, but no success in another.

"We managed to separate the techniques physical effects; all that remains is to undo the psychological aspects. I want to let her recover from the surgery for a day or so, but I can guarantee that waking will not be pretty - I believe a resurgence technique was used, and those are never pretty even in an amateur's hands. Whoever cast this was far and away from an amateur" She informed them seriously.

Ino shuddered at the mention of a resurgence technique; they were well known amongst her clan, and every ninja had experienced one to learn how to overcome them in combat situations. They forced suppressed memories to the forefront of the victims mind - and they directly aimed for the worst ones it could find.

Her own experience had been just after the wave mission; she had been forced to watch Naruto loosing her self-control, tearing like a ravenous animal into that Haku person, and Sasuke being frozen in ice. It had been torturous at the time; the situation demanded she did not leave Tazuna's side, but that had conflicted with her desire to at least try to aid her team-mates.

It was not pleasant re-living the experience again.

"Sasuke, what did the caster look like?" Itachi asked, jerking her thoughts back to the matter at hand.

He had not managed to ask before his brother had disappeared with Ino and Jiraiya to find the blonde woman, and the curiosity on Tsunade's face told him she had not been parted to that information. Sasuke frowned for a moment, seeming to ponder something.

"I don't know; he had this orange mask with and eyehole on the right. He used the Sharingan on her though, and when I tried to stab his foot, my kunai just phased right through him; he didn't even use hand-signs" he recalled, raising several loud worrying alarm bells in Itachi's mind.

One person who had stood out in his fathers explanation had worn an orange mask, and Itachi had a sickening suspicion that person was Madara Uchiha. Never minding the fact he was supposedly dead, what did he want with Naruto?

* * *

Sasuke frowned as he looked trough his father's files.

His house had escaped marginally unscathed, only the bedrooms had been drastically damaged, meaning his fathers files and documents were free to be rooting through, especially with Itachi staying with Ino till she was deemed recovered from the large blood donation by Tsunade.

Had it been any other time, he would have teased Itachi incessantly, but he was certain Itachi would have drawn a line at looking through their fathers files. Not that he was finding anything; he had assumed his father to be an organized kind of person, but that was beginning to look like a horrible misconception.

How had his father managed to keep track of anything in this mess of a desk?! There were tax receipts mixed up with mission payments and clan documents! He swore some of them were written in blood too! He understood running out of ink, but surely, that was what shops were for?

Raking through the desk, he came across the family tree. He was unsurprised to find Naruto nowhere in existence on it but, after following the thin lines of succession, he did discover something else that raised his eyebrows.

His parents were cousins! His grandfathers were siblings! His father was a fucking hypocrite! All that surreptitious non-support of his relationship with Naruto when he was married to his cousin! The filthy old buzzard!

Making a mental not to tell Itachi of this when they went back to their grandparents for the night, he moved the family tree to the tiny pile of useful information; he could add Naruto to it later on. When he figured out where she was supposed to go.

Underneath the family tree had been a wooden box, and he pried at the lid with his fingers with unsuccessful results. He tried channelling chakra into it - some chakra locks worked with familial chakra - but nothing happened.

Turning it over, he found a surprising etching underneath: Property of Minato knew his father had been on the same team as the fourth Hokage, but apparently they had been closer than he had originally thought. The box annoyed him enough to add it to the small pile, atop the incomplete family tree.

Reaching into the drawer once again, he pulled out a large bunch of faded letters, held together with string, looking well thumbed if the worn edges were anything to go by. He had seen his mother's handwriting a few times, and immediately recognised it for the spider scrawl it was.

He was dying to open the letters and look at their contents, but he needed to get out before Itachi came back from the hospital, and there was no set indicator as to when that would be. This in mind, he quickly stored the small pile of gathered clues into a scroll, and left for his grandparents' house.

The streets of the Uchiha district were quiet; many civilians had died in the attack on Konoha besides ninjas, and it showed as he moved through the streets towards the Senbei shop his grandparents ran. After greeting the ageing couple, he headed into the room he had been given for his stay.

He did not bother with the box; that had some sort of seal on it that would only accept a certain type of chakra and his had already proven useless. Naruto might know something about what type of seal it was, so she could take a look at it when she woke up (she had taken an advanced lesson on his only flunked course at the academy - sealing).

What he could look at were the letters to his father from his mother; taking car not to damage the slightly faded envelope, he unfastened the string holding them together, and opened the first one.

_This mission is the worst one I have received to date! This is even worse than chasing after that demonic cockatiel of the Daimyo's! Poor Kurenai was traumatized by that animal, and I cant say much better for Raido or Hayate (I'm curious to know how Minato's Genin handled that thing). I am certain this is payback for something; Minato can be sadistic when he wants to be. _

_For obvious reasons, I cannot go into mission details, but I can tell you there was a nasty incident the other day when one of the villagers set of one of our traps - the poor woman was covered in dirt, and she kept chasing Raido with her rolling pin._

_I heard Shikaku took on a team of his own a few weeks ago from Inochi; isn't Tsume's daughter on it? I'll bet he was overjoyed with the news. Find out how he tested them for me; god knows I could do with a laugh right now._

_How's Minato? Tsume tells me Deidara is driving Ibiki and his team-mates up the wall. I hope he isn't too harsh on the boy; he's just a little enthusiastic sometimes. I think he takes after Kushina in that respect. Make sure Itachi doesn't torment him too much…_

_Speaking of sons, how's Sasuke doing? I really don't like taking a mission when he is so young! I know it's unavoidable, but children need their mothers when they're still at this age! Make sure you don't poison him with your cooking!_

_Go ask Kushina for some leftovers or go to that ramen place. The one owned by the family of that civilian girl on Itachi's team; Kushina swears by it, no doubt. Then again, she swears by any ramen restaurant. No, going to Inochi's for aid is out of the question - he is as bad a cook as you are, and has his interrogation exam to prepare for._

_I don't know how much longer this mission will take; there seems to be some progress, but it's very slow in coming along. I think maybe a few more months at the most but it is impossible to determine at the moment._

_I will have to cut this short - Kurenai fell into the pond in the middle of her chakra exercises and I am not certain that dress of hers is designed for swimming. Kiss the boys goodnight for me (and tell Itachi I don't care that he's a ninja already - he's six; I'm his mother, and I have the last word!)._

_Miki_

Sasuke did not know how to react to the letter; on the one hand, it did not provide the information he wanted, built on the other he had never had much interaction with his mother. She had died before he had gotten the chance to form a memory of her in his mind.

His father had been very touch on the subject, avoiding it as much as he could; he barley mentioned his old team-mates too, so this letter was illuminating in other ways. From what he had gathered from this first letter, Naruto's mother adoptive mother (adoptive being an assumption) Kushina had been married to the fourth Hokage, or at least romantically involved enough to produce a son of their own.

Said son had been one of Itachi's team-mates (as had Ayame, off all people) underneath Ibiki (Sasuke shuddered to think of the man as a Jonin instructor - no wonder Itachi had turned out with a twisted streak).

His mother had, apparently, been on some sort of mission during the time of this letter with her own team; names were recognisable as Jonin instructors or as the exam proctors. Sasuke wondered if this mission had been her last one, their father had never really specified how she had died.

Another Genin's name that popped up was Kakashi's. Sasuke assumed that meant Kakashi Hatake, going by the ages. He had not realised Kakashi had been a student of the fourth Hokage, but it was good news. He could probably get some coherent answers from him if he was told Itachi did not care what he did with the information.

Well, he had made some progress, even if it was not what he was originally looking for. He would ask his brother about this Deidara character when he returned form the hospital (Tsunade had forbidden them from staying overnight, claiming her patient needed uninterrupted bed rest for physical recovery).

As for the whole thing with the fourth Hokage, he could ask Kakashi the next time he saw him. He had a bad feeling they would be receiving several d-ranks before long, the village being in the state it was now.

This in mind, he hid the scroll under one of the floorboards, and headed down the stairs at his grandmother's call for dinner with a feeling of satisfaction.

* * *

"Remember what I said; this is not going to be pretty" Tsunade warned, before placing her hands ob either side of Naruto's temples, hands emitting a scouring green glow.

There was nothing for several moments before Naruto's now near-healed body began to spasm on the bed. The Shizune woman and the doctor did their best to hold onto her arms and legs, keeping her from throwing herself off the bed and from disrupting Tsunade's delicate chakra-scourge.

A long agonizing scream ripped from her throat and the violent thrashes increased in severity, and Itachi had to place his own shaking had on Sasuke's shaking shoulder to keep him from interfering. He was glad Ino had disappeared to snoop or meddle, or whatever she was doing.

He was not sure he would be able to keep her off; Ino was not above using the mind-body disturbance technique off-duty if it was to be in her benefit.

Naruto's eyes opened, but there was no coherence in them, and the flashed from blue, to Sharingan red, back to blue, and then to a different red - ominous red.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, horrified by the sight in front of him.  
"This is the illusion at work. I'll hazard a guess that whatever she's been dreaming about involves the Kyuubi," Tsunade informed them over the pained shrieks, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face.

* * *

'_Infiltration status: Success!'_ Ino cheered to herself as the nurse left her to her business in the hospital records room. She immediately proceeded to delve amongst the filing cabinets marked _'U-V'_ for the surname Uzumaki.

"Uzuahoa, Uzuakio, Uzudiku, Uzujai, Uzukori… Shit!" Ino swore loudly.

Unless the file had been removed, there was no Uzumaki file in the hospital records. That made absolutely no sense at all; Naruto's name was Uzumaki. True she had the Sharingan, but she had been registered on the ninja system with Uzumaki!

Growling to herself, she moved further back in the list of _U's_ until she finally came across a large fat folder titled Uchiha. Groaning at the weight (_'Just how many Uchiha's are in this file?!'), _she dropped it onto the reading table with a thump.

Thankfully, the main family had a separate folder within the larger, so locating Mikoto Uchiha was easy. Ino frowned upon going through the files. Birth certificates there were, but not for Naruto. Checking Fugaku's file proved just as useless. Not willing to leave without having checked everything, she scourged the death certificate of Mikoto Uchiha with her irritated gaze.

Finally, she had found something that could be useful! The cause of death for Mikoto Uchiha was written down as childbirth. Not strange by itself, but according to the other documents Mikoto Uchiha only had two children. Examining the dates put Mikoto's death at the 10th of October, a year after Sasuke's birth on the 23rd of July.

Naruto's birthday was the 10th of October!

But that by itself was not enough; Ino wanted Naruto's birth certificate for some good and solid hard evidence, and it was distinctly missing from the folder. Grunting at the weight once again, Ino replaced the folder in its drawer and frowned at the masses of filing cabinets.

She had been certain to find something with the records of Naruto's adopted mother, but those were nowhere to be found under their supposed letter grouping. What had Sasuke said this morning? There was something to do with Kushina having a boyfriend, and a kid of her own, but who had it been?

The family name had been a well-known one, that much she was certain - not Senju or Sarutobi famous, but definitely one that popped up in their old history books. What was his name? It began with n, that much she was certain of.

And his name had something to do with boats, or was it the sea? Or was it both? No, that was his fist name… it was sea and…. Sea and… gale? Wind? WIND! Ino grabbed a piece of paper kindly provided for scribbling along with a pencil and began speedily scratching kanji on the paper, rearranging them until something familiar showed up.

After scribbling for several minuets, she finally stopped on one selection of names: _'Harbour'_ and _'Ocean Wind'_. Better known as Minato Namikaze, or the fourth Hokage. No wonder it had been so stuck as being familiar.

Scrunching the paper up and placing it in her pocket (she couldn't have people knowing what she was doing in here after all), she moved to the set of files marked _'M-N'_. Rifling through finally dredged up a thankfully small file.

Opening it up, she found the old dude on the council in the folder, and the fourths medical records. Ino hoped she was not committing some sort of moral infringement by touching  
them - she had already broken several legal ones by snooping through files not her own, she did not need moral guilt as well.

Not wanting to dig further through the file in case of inadvertent blasphemy, she focused on and finally found, Kushina Uzumaki - newly named Namikaze. Sasuke had been right on the mark with the mention of a son too - a bright blonde kid with paler iron-blue eyes than his dad had, more like Kushina's had been.

The file mentioned Naruto as a second child, and she was listed as adopted, but no birth certificate to speak of. Deciding she might as well cover all the bases, Ino clasped her hands and prayed for forgiveness before opening the file belonging to the fourth Hokage.

Footsteps in the hallway set of alarm bells for the blonde girl, and she carefully stuffed the Namikaze folder back into its drawer, slamming it closed and busying herself with a Yamanaka one just in time for the nurse to appear at the doorway.

"Sorry honey, but your times up; I can't let you stay in here any longer than this. If you didn't find what you need, you can come back tomorrow okay?" she smiled apologetically.

Ino badly wanted to strangle the smiling woman, but forced a smile instead.

* * *

After what seemed like an age, Naruto calmed, Sasuke and Itachi relaxed, and Tsunade was aided into a chair by her old team-mate, exhausted by the effort of removing the technique. Itachi seemed to understand the significance of this more than Sasuke, having once seen the extent of the woman's chakra output before, but made no comment.

Naruto's eyes fluttered for a few long moments, before opening hazily. She groaned at the bright light in the room, raising a hand to cover her eyes. Her finger had barley lifted when Sasuke decided to crush her.

Her surprise soon dimmed, and she gladly returned the sentiments, only Sasuke noting the shake in her shoulders.

"what was it?" he asked, not bothering to ask if she was alright; Tsunade had seen to waking her up and healing, but the illusion itself and what she had seen were not so easily cured. The question _'are you alright?'_ was pointless.

"I… I think it was the sealing… I remember fire, people screaming, roaring, and being carried, and then…" she frowned in troubled confusion for a moment before moving on with her explanation: "…Then there was a dark place with candles I remember them, and then people started poking and drawing on me before…" she took a deep breath of air before continuing...

"…and then there was this sickly _thing_ with a knife in its mouth, and then I just… God there was so much pain! I thought I was dying! It was like being reworked from the ground up! And then… I woke up, and that man in the orange mask just stood there, watching…" she shivered at the memory.

She didn't really know how she could remember the day of her birth like that, but since the encounter with that masked guy, it was all that had been playing through her head - the back wounds from the wave mission had been on repeat fro a while though.

Apparently Sasuke though it odd too, since he asked his brother how remembering such a thin was possible.

"Naruto's memory has always been better than the usual Sharingan user, so that may be part of it, but I think it lies with the original manifestation requirement" he mused, pausing to think for a moment.

"Even as a baby, you can recognise danger, that's one of the reasons for crying; a call for help, and Naruto was born in the middle of the Kyuubi attack" Sasuke nodded once to indicate he understood this, noting the rapt attention Naruto was giving his bother.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she manifested it for a short period of time from subconsciously sensing the danger around her and branded the event onto her memory, but suppressed it. I cant imagine a demon sealing being a very pleasant memory… the Resurgence technique directly targets such memories; it probably broke past the subconscious barriers around it" Itachi finished, as quietly as he began.

Naruto said nothing, her face twisting in some sort of confusion. Sasuke could tell there was more to what she had been reliving than what she said, but he didn't mention it. Getting information from Naruto when she was against sharing was worse than squeezing blood from a stone.

"Oi brat! Where are your manners? Tsunade just exhausted herself bringing you back from dreamland!" Jiraiya berated jokingly, drawing Naruto's attention from her thoughts.

She gave the blonde woman a contemplative look, her eyes widening at the size of her breasts. Were those real?! They must give her a lot of back strain - Naruto wasn't too concerned over her non-existent chest size, but she drew a line at anything that caused back pain.

"Who are you old lady?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Of course she knew who Tsunade was, and that the medic legend was her sort-of mentor's old team-mate, but she wanted to irritate someone. She had a lot of pent up stress that was best released by causing havoc, as per the norm.

Besides, Tsunade didn't have to know.

"What did you just call me?" the woman asked incredulously, a dangerous glint in her eyes.  
"Well, if you're as old as he is, you've got to be pushing mid-fifties, early sixties even…" Naruto reasoned, snickering at the building twitch in the woman.

"You brat!" Tsunade growled loudly.

* * *

_**So, we have a letter from Mikoto to dear old Fugaku, Naruto wakes up, and the plot thickens! Next chapter signals the beginning of the end! Of Part I at any rate. Then we'll have a nice little flashback to Konoha around 40 years ago, and then finally on to Part II! Part I is always so drawn out for me… I don't really know why, but it seems like a prologue to the main story to me, and the Kakashi Gaiden is a Prologue to the Prologue.**_

_**Im sorry for all the delays lately, but one I finished one chapter I moved on to the next (the plot bunnies are rampant!) with ought running them through spell check, and I hate going back to spell check something; I normally do it directly after finishing… So yes, I was a lazy arse. Sue me bitches!**_

_**Love them there reviews!  
Nat.  
xxx**_


	10. Act X: Shit Mountain,Giant Fan: Problems

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY**

* * *

**ACT X  
~ SHIT MOUNTAIN + GIANT FAN: MORE PROBLEMS ~**

* * *

_"Hells Miki! She's got her Sharingan already!" a loud voice cried.  
"Wonder if you'll remember this when you're all grown up? Hmm? Whaddaya think?"_

_The voice did not receive a reply. There was a chuckle from a different set of vocal chords, lighter ones.  
She couldn't see who the voice belonged too…_

_"My father is going to be thrilled; she wasn't supposed to have it in the first place."  
"I thought you said she was going to be a boy?" a small blonde head of hair asked a larger one.  
"I though she was going to be a boy, I was certain of it, your Aunt Miki too. I guess we have another practical joker on our hands, huh shrimp?"_

_Whose voices were those? They were unfamiliar, but one of them was young, the other older. It was dark, she didn't like the dark! She had to see what was happening! Light flooded the darkness and she felt herself being lifted by something, something that seemed fairly strong. She felt safe; she wasn't going to fall._

_"I'm not a shrimp yeah! And you can't say I take after Mum anymore if she's a prankster too!"  
"Nothing you say will change the fact that you are a shrimp, Deidara"  
"Graaagh! Just you wait, yeah! I'll drink loads of milk and then I'll get taller than you, yeah!"  
"Of course you will Deidara; now do you want to hold your sister?"_

_She was moved and finally caught a decent glimpse of the two voices she had been listening to. Both faces were blurred, but the yellow-blonde of their hair, and kingfisher blue of their eyes were easily to make out. The sight was somewhat confusing, but strangely not enough to cause panic in her as she stared up at the face of the older blonde._

_She could tell the littler one that held her was less confident, wary of her than the older had been, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She still didn't feel like she was going to fall, so her only noise was a gargle when her head felt heavier for a brief second._

_"Uwah! She moves! I can't keep hold of her! I'll drop her yeah!!"  
"Of course she moves you dolt!"  
"Daaad! Take her back before I drop her, Yeah!"_

_"Its alright, just make sure you support her head; she cant hold it by herself well yet - see, let her rest it in the crook of your am like this…" There was some shuffling, and her head felt a lot better. She looked up and more yellow flooded her vision._

_"She's really tiny!" the smaller blob of yellow noted; she felt an irrational urge to do something unpleasant to the yellow blob.  
"That's babies for you Deidara."  
"She's quiet; I though babies were supposed to scream a lot yeah?"  
"They do - don't jinx it for us just yet!"_

_"Eh? Me too?" The yellow blob stared at her again.  
"Deidara, since the moment you were born, I can't think of a single hour you haven't been making some sort of noise"  
"I was this small?"  
"Yep, and since you're her big brother, you've got to look after her, okay?"  
"…Okay"_

_"Can I hold my daughter now?" asked the voce from earlier, the one she hadn't put a blob too.  
"Ah! Sorry Aunt Miki!"_

_There was more movement and she found her self in a different set of strong things, looking up a surprisingly non-blurred face. The face was pretty; the face had soft features and black hair that looked like it was fluffy, or silky. Of felt nice. A small hand reached up to grasp it, tugging on pone of the stray black threads._

_"Welcome to the world Na-"_

* * *

Naruto woke up straight-seated in her hospital bed with sweat drenching her body.  
_'W-What the hell was that?'_

* * *

"How much longer do you have to stay in the hospital? My grandparents are on the verge of kidnapping you," Sasuke asked a few days later.

Despite the initial rocky start, Naruto had begun to worm her claws into her doctor, and they had a somewhat brash but caring relationship. Three was also some kind of bet to take place after Naruto left the hospital he still did not quite understand. Unfortunately, the budding relationship with her doctor did not gain her any early releases from the hospital. Something that particularly irked his blonde girlfriend.

"Tomorrow with any luck; Ino, didn't you say you found something in the hospital records yesterday? What was it" Naruto asked her team-mate, slurping the ramen that had been brought in for her by Sasuke.

Ino jerked, remembering the start of the conversation the previous day that had been interrupted by Jiraiya's untimely arrival. She had been so relieved to see Naruto awake and somewhat moving around that she had almost forgotten her not-quite-but-almost-discoveries in the hospital records room. It simply had not seemed as important, for obvious reasons.

"I almost forgot! I didn't actually find Naruto's birth certificate, I got chased out before I could look in the other folders, but I did find something on your mothers death certificate" Ino replied, directing the end of her question to Sasuke.

"My mother's _death_ certificate?" Sasuke asked sceptically; Ino nodded.  
"The cause of death was some sort of tearing or something during childbirth; not an odd thing on its own, but it was the date that stuck out. I'm pretty certain Sasuke's birthday isn't the 10th of October" Ino informed the two with a triumphant look on her face.

"No… but it would be mine; I'm guessing she died a year after Sasuke was born?" Naruto asked.  
"Bingo!" Ino grinned.  
"That doesn't explain the Sharingan in Naruto though; it's not a matriarchal trait…" Sasuke frowned.

While it appeared that he was a lot closer in relation to Naruto than he had originally thought, there were so many things that were still not explained with that assumption. He could hazard a guess that her father might have something to do with how the Sharingan popped up in her, but they knew nothing about him; they did not even have a name.

"Hey, I just looked through the records after you tipped me on it; speaking of tips, Naruto, did you know your mother married the fourth Hokage? Or that she had a kid?" Ino asked, remembering the unexpected discovery.

Naruto shook her head; she barley remembered the red haired woman, but from what she remembered, she had never had a son. Her lack of a husband, on the other hand, was easily explainable - the death rates amongst the ninja populace were three times that of civilians, and five time that of suicide.

"I ended up finding her file in with the Namikaze file. I was going to have a look in the Hokage's file when-"

"You were going to what?!" Sasuke asked, suitably horrified.  
"Ino, that's like, breaking some sort of divine ruling or something! You can't look in the fourth's medical records!" Naruto protested.  
"It's fine! I begged for divine forgiveness beforehand! And snooping through health records is hardly toeing the line either" Ino brushed the subject aside with a wave of her hand.

"Besides, I think it'll be worth our while to have a look at them; Sasuke said he found that box didn't he? The fourth is obviously all wrapped up in this mess somewhere," Ino added, seeing grudging agreement appearing on her friends face.

Naruto was not enthralled with the idea of looking through the medical records of the man who sealed a demon in her gut; though she did wonder what had been put down as the cause of death. But other than that, she didn't really want to look at them; particular images of the man were fresh in her mind thanks to the masked mind, and those images were thoroughly confusing. On the other hand, she could not deny that Ino had a made a valid point.

"Alright; as soon as I'm released from this virus infected prison, and I win my bet with the old bat, were going through those records," she grumbled.

Ino grinned victoriously.

* * *

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind Sasuke and Ino. As glad as she was to have something resembling answers to questions that had been plaguing her since her Sharingan activated, she was getting some very unexpected answers. She did not really know how she was supposed to process some of them.

All evidence dug up by Ino glaringly indicated that… that Sasuke and Itachi were her brothers. Admittedly, only half-brothers, but exactly half of their DNA was still identical. Ignoring the set of questions on why her… mother, had obviously cheated or left Mr. F in the first place, her relationship with Sasuke was brought into confusion once again.

Even at the beginning she had know something was off about their relationship, but like always when it came to Sasuke, she had ignored her instincts. Now she had wound herself into the mess that was a romantic relationship with her… brother. It was bad enough that they had been possible second cousins, but her brother?

That was a very different scale of things altogether; she knew that incest was not very uncommon in the major clans, but she did not recall any sibling relationships. Frankly it weirded her out more than she cared to admit; it scared her even more that she was willing to ignore the social norm and keep going with the relationship anyway - though honestly, there hadn't been all that much action on the romantic front lately, no thanks to the Pedo and Mr. Mask.

'_I don't care! It won't change anything!'_

How long ago had she yelled those words to herself now? Naruto couldn't remember exactly, but the memory prompted the fire to burn in her resolve once again. She had always known that with Sasuke came headaches hadn't she? She was not going to back down from that now. Yes, they may encounter obvious problems, but…

"I can face them if he can!" she growled to herself, pulling the covers over her head.

Outside the door to her hospital room Sasuke walked down the hall with relieved amusement on his face.

* * *

Arriving back at his grandparent's house, Sasuke found himself digging out his mother's letters to his father once again. He did not really understand the desire to know more about  
her - he had never had the urge before after all - but he was not going to leave his curiosity unsatisfied. He supposed it was due to the incredibly surprising revelation by Ino last night.

His sister? He really didn't blame Naruto for wanting some thinking time; this whole situation was either 'wrong' or at the very least incredibly screwed up on so many levels there was no point in trying to count them. It would never be mentioned, but he had found doubts himself. He had always had a strong desire to make sure the blonde idiot did not kill herself by accident, but now he a different inkling as to why.

Of course, to him, there was no question that he would be unable to change his course of actins towards her. It was far too late to turn around now; thinking of her in a romantic sense for the past few years, and having those feeling reciprocated over the past few months, did not exactly inspire the typical sibling relationship.

It still did not shut up the annoying part of his mind (the logical part that he refused to listen to when Naruto was involved) that told him he was acting worse than a Hyuuga (dam, he could not call them incestuous gits now, could he?). She was his sister; the fact he had even contemplated his options was hardly normal behaviour. Ah well, he could blame it on his parents.

This in mind, he pulled out the second of the letters; he immediately discerned a different nature from the worn thumbing it had received. His father had obviously looked at this particular letter a lot. Gently as he had with the first, he opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper decorated with his mother's god-awful scrawl.

_I've never wanted to abandon a mission so much before; If I didn't love the guy to bits, I'd kill Minato for assigning this mission to me. I will never give those bastards from Iwa the benefit of the doubt again! I wish I could come back so much right now, but needs must._

_How are my parents? Kushina didn't seem to say much in her letter. What about Minato? I'll bet he is killing himself with the guilt; tell him to stop being such a drama queen. He has two other students to look after, and they surely don't need his cleverly hidden self-pity right now. He'll probably want to calm Deidara a bit too; he's not going to slow down any._

_Kushina is worried about him too, I can tell, and you know how often that happens. I'm not too worried about Itachi, but keep a particular eye out for him. I don't want him going on warpath like that blonde menace (and I mean that in the complimentary sense). _

_I still don't know when I'm going to be back, but I doubt it will be before three months are up. You should hear the kids complaining; Hayate keeps worrying about his doctor's appointments, and you know how Raido is. Kurenai has not actually said anything, but every time one of the villagers asks her to help dig up cabbages, she wrinkles her nose._

_I swear those kids are saints for putting up with all of this; I'll have to see Torifu about teaching Hayate some sword styles when I get back as a reward for all this (despite his complaining, the boy's patience knows no bounds). Some illusions and some other techniques for Kurenai and Raido too. They really do deserve it for all their work._

_How's Sasuke? You had better not be feeding him that… I would say charcoal, but that doesn't even cover the extent to which you burn things. Remember the last time you tried to make Itachi pancakes? That will not happen again under my roof Fugaku - the poor boy had indigestion for a week! If I hear from the others that you have been giving that garbage to either of them, then you can be sure as hell you won't be getting that daughter you want._

_Hear me?! I don't care if you have to order take out or go to my mothers every night, but don't you dare feed my boys your food! Oh, and tell Minato to send more rations. The last set is completely useless thanks to another incident with the lake (I don't really think I can explain without being there in person)._

_Take care of yourself too, you fool.  
Miki._

Sasuke was so absorbed in the letter that he didn't hear his grandmothers knock at his bedroom door before entering.  
"Sasuke? I called you for dinner ten minuets ago… come on down silly!" she grinned from the doorway as Sasuke raised his head from the letter in surprise.

"What? Oh, sorry Grandma… I was… busy" he apologized lamely, not sure if involving his grandparents in this mess was a good idea or not. While he trusted them innately to not spread any of what he did to other less scrupulous characters, he was not stupid.

Never mind the questions that may be raised, they were not ninja, and Sasuke knew from what they had learned that there was a good reason Naruto's birth records were so hard to find. Much to his surprise, the old woman's face brightened upon sight of the letter, and plucked it from his hand with tears on the edge of her coal Sharingan-less eyes.

"Gran?" he asked somewhat confused by the elderly woman's sudden outburst.  
"I can't believe he kept them all this time; that old fool…" she muttered chuckling to herself.

She gave a short bark of laughter, before wiping her eyes and handing the letter back to Sasuke.

"I don't know how you found them, but don't go damaging them; put this away for now and come eat. Your brother's home early for once today!" she smiled, before turning back towards the door leaving a relatively stunned Sasuke.

* * *

"Come on Naruto! What happened to all the control I drilled into you?!" Ino berated, watching Naruto loose control of the Rasengan for the god-knows-what-number time.

The blonde girl picked herself up from the ground muttering to herself about stupid deranged balls of fur and their equally stupid chakra. She concentrated on the rotation of her chakra in her palm once again, silently vowing to get the technique down before the week was out even if it killed her in the process.

Jiraiya had taught her the steps, and occasionally popped by to see how she was coming along with them - he had stated his training would not include mollycoddling, and he had not been telling an inch of a lie. The only aid she received was Ino's aid in controlling her chakra properly, and a hint from her trainer.

They continued until Sasuke, who joined later in the afternoon, near ordered Naruto to stop before she collapsed from chakra exhaustion again. She had been out of the hospital barley a week as it was; she didn't need to be going back already. Reluctantly agreeing, she had followed him back to his grandparent's house - correction - _their_ grandparent's house. It was still difficult wrapping her head around the correct terminology sometimes.

She stiffened for a moment when his hand wormed into hers, but it was surprise, not repulse that generated the gesture. She had been expecting Sasuke to have a little more reservation than she had for some reason. Maybe it was his withdrawn demeanour that made her think that way though; given choice (which was not) he would usually withdraw from conversation unless serious, he preferred to listen until he had a valid point to contribute.

"Itachi already knew before you used your Sharingan in the stands," Sasuke stated suddenly.

Naruto turned her stunned eyes towards him.  
"What? How did he find out?! And where is he anyway?" she asked, clearly surprised but still noting the elder Uchiha's recent absence.

Sasuke ponder this for a moment; he had not actually asked how Itachi had found out.  
"I guess he saw your Sharingan at some point and did his own investigating before bullying dad for the real story, and he's on a mission" he replied blandly.

Naruto frowned.  
"But if he knew then why didn't he… I mean, he was in cahoots with Ino!" she waved her free arm for emphasis.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, giving her a blank look, full of questions and puzzlement. Naruto was puzzled by the look before realising how her statement might have sounded to him, and began waving both her arms as she proceeded to explain her true meaning:

"Ah, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, cause, I mean - yore my brother! That's not usually on anyone's list of boyfriend requirements right? I don't give two flying fucks what anyone cares, because I never have! I mean, if I did, I have gone suicide years ago or…"

She paused, a more confused frown appearing on her face.  
"Err… What was I saying?" she asked rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

Sasuke tried to suppress the snickering. He really did. A glare from Naruto silenced them sooner than anticipated, but he did manage to get around to answering her question.  
"You were talking about why Itachi was in cahoots with Ino," he reminded; he made a mental note to step up her training with the Sharingan, she would usually have remembered that.

"That's it! Why would he be conspiring with Ino if he knew we were… Oh god, this so _hard_ to digest… If we were siblings? Who sets up their sister with their brother? Well, the Hyuuga's might if they were certain the Byakugan was getting messed up or something but…" she left it hanging.

Sasuke gave her a withering look before snorting, and lacing their fingers together again, resuming pace.  
"You honestly believe either of us would have listened, or even believed him?" he asked.  
"…You might have a point there" Naruto agreed.

* * *

"It appears that Uchiha boy has more will power than I thought" Orochimaru hissed, feeling the pain in his arms worsening.

Kabuto grimaced at the sight of the seals effects on the man's arms. They were well beyond his capability to heal, only Tsunade herself would be of a calibre required to heal them and she was currently in the leaf village. Sneaking intro the village for her likely unlikely aid would be foolhardy. If only they had contacted her before she had left Tanzaku city…

However, that was unimportant. Orochimaru needed to change bodies quickly, lest he die of the injuries given by his old mentor. They had been counting on the cursed seal corrupting the youngest of the main line enough to draw him to Otogakure of his own accord, but there was not even a whisper from the watchers at the border of the boy taking a foot near them.

"Orochimaru-Sama, as your doctor, I recommend performing the ritual as soon as possible! We can't afford to wait for Sasuke to arrive; if you continue you to wait, I can't promise you'll survive!" he reasoned.

The snake contractor gritted his teeth in frustration for a long moment.  
"Very well! I will leave the selection process to you, but call up the sound five! I will not give up that Sharingan body so easily!" he hissed, clearly seeing the logic, but equally furious with the turn of events.

"It will be done" Kabuto relied, handing the man yet another medical draught.  
"And tell them to make it as quiet as possible; I don't want that half-girl getting in the way!" Orochimaru added, swigging back the viscous liquid in one long swallow.  
"The Jinchuriki? Surely it would be best to catch her now? Kabuto asked, handing a thinner liquid to the older man.

"I could care less about Madara's plans; the man is nothing but a bitter old codger. That girl has a meddlesome quality about her, the Yamanaka too. As much as I like it when things move, I have no intentions of sacrificing my new host to satisfy that" Orochimaru replied, taking the vial somewhat testily.

"Then again, the hold she has over Sasuke could work to our advantage. Especially if there was any truth in Madara's talk of the Sharingan… Failure is no option; Call up the sound four and I'll explain what I want you to do" the snake man added, giving the vial a mild glare before handing it back to his medic.

Kabuto nodded, before gathering his medical supplies and leaving the room.

* * *

Tsunade's god awful luck seemed to run strong the day of the bet; Naruto managed to master the Rasengan by the end of the week of her hospital release, somehow persuading the anger-issued blonde woman into taking the Hokage position, and gaining some sort of death-magnet necklace worth more than two mountains in the process.

Betting business over and done with, team seven headed back towards the hospital for more pressing matters: finding Naruto's birth records. Very concrete speculation was all well and good, but Naruto wanted solid proof - even if rooting through the fourth Hokage's medical records was not an appealing notion (though she _was_ curios as to what the cause of death had been written as).

"Alright, we're all aware of the plan?" Ino asked, hovering around the corner from the reception desk.  
"You get the nurses attention whilst me and Naruto hide under the toad-guys peeping technique, and follow you into the room when the woman lets you in" Sasuke repeated.  
"I don't think it's called the _'Peeping Technique'_ Sasuke, he just uses it_ for _peeping" Naruto corrected in a hushed voice.

Sasuke gave her a withering look.  
"What? It isn't!"

Ino ignored the interaction between her team-mates.  
"On three then?" she asked, shit-eating grin on her face.

She held up three fingers, lowering them one by one. On the lowering of the final finger, her two team-mates formed the required hand seals and muttered a chakra release before seemingly meting into the air. Ino raised an eyebrow, and prodded the air in front of her tentatively. An indignant yelp from whom she _thought_ was Naruto (she could not be entirely certain it was not Sasuke) told her the technique had worked, and she headed over to the reception desk.

Unfortunately, the pink-haired nurse she recognised as Sakura's mother was not nearly as easy to con as the previous nurse was. The woman recognised her for her fellow blonde team-mate and cast a suspicious eye around the reception area. Panicking, Ino was forced to use one of her work in progress personal techniques to get the woman to open the records room.

After preventing Sasuke from simply knocking the woman out (this raised another suspicious glance before the woman left what appeared to be Ino to her own business), they immediately attacked the filing cabinets. Ino pulled out the files she had first dug up for her team-mates to examine, before moving back to the Namikaze file.

"Why are we looking in this file again?" Naruto asked, not completely certain of the direction Ino's train of thought was heading as the blonde dragged out the large file.  
"Because Kushina Uzumaki isn't Kushina Uzumaki - she married the fourth Hokage, so she isn't an Uzumaki right? I figured your birth records would be dragged along for the ride, but they were not in her folder. The last place we can look is in the fourths files," Ino explained.

They pulled aside the files that were not necessary to read, though Naruto did spare a glance at the file belonging to one Deidara Namikaze. Whoever the boy in the photo was must be dead or have moved from Konoha by now; she would have remembered seeing someone with hair like that, especially a boy with hair like that.

"Found it!" Sasuke stated vaguely triumphantly.

They stared at the folder for some time, casting glances to their fellow team-mates, waiting for one of the other two to open it.

"Come on Ino, open it!" Naruto hissed, exasperated by the silence.  
"Me? This is your crazy shit not mine! You open it!"  
"I can't open the medial files of the guy who sealed a kleptomaniac fox demon in my gut! It's weird!" Naruto protested.

The two girls turned their gaze to Sasuke, Naruto pointedly activating the forbidden technique that were her puppy-dog eyes. Sasuke tried his best to avoid their gaze.  
"No" he stated bluntly.

Naruto pouted for a few moments before an evil grin crossed her face. He clasped her hands into a single hand seal and hissed the chakra release with a smirk on her face.

"Sexy Technique!"

Sasuke stared bug eyed for merely three seconds before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the floor. Ino took a closer look at his face and found a small trickle of blood beneath his nose. She gave Naruto an approving thumbs-up as she poofed back to normal from the naked smoke covered 16-year-old form she had taken.

"He wasn't supposed to collapse! Damn, maybe I didn't use enough smoke…" Naruto scratched her head, trying to figure out where the technique had gone wrong.

"It worked with Ol' Froggie…" Naruto complained, nudging Sasuke's side with her foot impatiently.  
"Maybe it only works with adults?" Ino asked, grasping the concept behind the technique immediately.  
"Hmm… I'll have to test it some more, but I didn't expect him to collapse!" Naruto complained, shooting her unconscious boyfriend an accusing glare.

After about another minuet, Sasuke was successfully revived via foot nudging, and was dazed enough to blindly agree to open the folder. They all held their breath as Sasuke opened the brown card that contained the records of one of the greatest ninjas in history. The documents contained were rather anticlimactic at first glance.

Several entries into the hospital for chakra exhaustion, one for a broken arm, another for effects of strange ninja techniques, but nothing interesting until they came across the death certificate. Naruto, for the first time, showed some eagerness in looking at the man's folder and quickly scanned the official paper.

"_Indefinable?_" she asked in a disgusted voice.

Surely there was something they could have used instead of '_indefinable'_? _'Work Related Injury' _would have been better than indefinable. For some reason she took great offence to their apparent lack of care with the death-cause of the so-called village hero. Suddenly, gaining the respect of the villagers seemed like a rather daunting task.

"Naruto, focus on the task at hand will you?" Ino berated, riffling through more forms

And more forms. And yet more forms. A small pile had grown when Naruto finally lost a small amount of her patience with an innocent piece of paper, nearly tearing into two. Had Sasuke not removed it from her hands, she would probably have succeeded.

"Oh for the love of… How many times did this guy get treated for chakra exhaustion? For a Hokage, he sure didn't know when to quit did he?" she growled, glaring at yet another admission form of the newly dubbed _'CE'_.

They continued their rapid yet careful search through the files, and thankfully the instances of _'CE'_ seemed to diminish to a lesser amount (once a month if the dates were anything to go by), until there was a short gasp from Naruto.

"But… That makes no sense!" she cried, staring a piece of faded pink parchment in horror.

Immediately interested and alerted, her team-mates carefully dropped the files they had been sifting through to peer over her frozen shoulders at the piece of paper. Ino spluttered in confusion at the messy scrawl on the page, and a similar frown etched Sasuke own face as he read the information on the file:

**Given Name(s):** _Naruto _**Father: ---**_at- --m---z-_ **Guardian(s):**_ Kushina Uzumaki, Fugaku Uchiha, Jiraiya Utatane  
**Family Name(s):-**__a---a--_ **Mother:**_M--o-- -c--h- _**D.O.B: **_10__th__ October  
**Bloodline: -**__h--i-g-- _ **Chakra Capacity:** _52%_ **Coil Development: **_58%  
_

_____**Facilitating Doctor:** Tsunade Senju  
**Witnesses: **Inochi Yamanaka, Tsume Inuzuka, Jiraiya Utatane, Minato Namikaze  
_

_____"What's with the ridiculous chakra stats on here?! And why are the names scribbled out? And her Sharingan?" Ino asked in fearful surprise; squinting at the as she might, she could not make out the names of Naruto's parents - such was the effort that had been taken into blotting them out._

There was a long silence before Sasuke answered.  
"I guess the same reason Naruto was adopted; a cover up of some kind in a twisted form of _'protection'_?" Sasuke guessed.

Naruto said nothing, too busy examining the paper. Some of these names… Senju was the surname of their new Hokage wasn't it? And Jiraiya was not so common a name that it could be anyone other than her own teacher. Ino's father was dead giveaway, and she was pretty sure the Inuzuka woman was Kiba's mother.

"We can go ask some of these people for answers" Naruto concluded determination in her tone.

From what she remembered of Kiba's mother she was a somewhat scary but laidback woman, much like herself in some ways. Her association with Kiba as a classmate would probably help with getting her to open up. She could at least try with the old bat and Ol' Froggie, but Inochi was the biggest lost cause since Kakashi tried persuading them to take the Tora mission that time after their mission to wave.

"Huh? You really think they'll answer?" Ino asked dubiously.  
"they will if Naruto sticks her Sharingan in their face along with this; they wont have any choice but to give us something, even if it's not all of it" Sasuke agreed, having examined the names himself.

Naruto looked at him in surprise as she carefully stowed her birth certificate away in one of the inside pockets of her orange jacket.  
"I thought we were going to keep that on the down-low in public?" she asked, somewhat confused.  
"If there on the certificate, then they probably know about it anyway - as long as no-one else sees it…." he left the answer hanging, and Naruto nodded in confirmation.

They replaced the files in their original shelving units and drawers, removing any official or medical documents they deemed viable. Ino nearly had a heart attack when Sasuke removed those belonging to the fourth Hokage, but he countered those by stating his name was on the list of witnesses, and was therefore part of the whole conspiracy.  
Naruto also removed those belonging to Deidara, having a sneaking suspicion that they would be viable later on.

After making sure that the room was in exactly the same state they had found it in, they hid themselves under Jiraiya's _'Not-Called-Peeping' T_echnique, and stole their way out of the hospital in time to catch the induction ceremony of the new Hokage. Unbeknownst, four pairs of hawk-like eyes watched them.

* * *

Naruto lay slumped in her own room, instead of stealing her usual spot next to Sasuke as she had been inclined to do so recently. While she appreciated the comfort his presence gave, she couldn't help but need some time to herself to digest this new information that had cropped up for her without any form of shame.

She held the birth certificate she had been staring at with her Sharingan (she had been hoping that doing so might reveal some sort of hidden seal or melt away the ink covering the names of her parents) up to the light. The orange-yellow glow of the ceiling light shone through the paper, turning it a ruddy-orange colour. If she concentrated incredibly hard, she could make out the score shapes made by the pen that had originally written the names.

Where her mothers name was supposed to be, she could just make out an_ 'M'_ and _'O'_ in her first name. She supposed that meant their assumptions had been correct over her mother's identity, but her father? She couldn't make out a single stroke of the pen, so hard it had been scribbled over.

Naruto was by no means a pessi-whatsit (the word wasn't even in her vocabulary), but it was at times like this that she whished her life wasn't quite so complicated. First there was the whole _'The-Villagers-Think-I'm-Demon-Incarnate'_ situation to be dealing with, and then there had been the_ 'I-Can-Remember-Anything-I-See-With-Shikamaru-Skill'_, which eventually evolved into the _'Rampant Sharingan'_ scenario.

Now she was the result of some sort of spasmodic affair between Mikoto Uchiha and Mr. anonymous, and the whole thing was still shrouded in fog. Lets not forget the '_I'm-In-Love-With-My-Brother'_ thing (not that she really cared; if the gods didn't want them to date, then they should have though about that sooner, or never let them get acquainted in the first place).

She held the certificate up once again, sitting up to try get a better view of the paper, trying to catch something she'd missed. She was concentrating so hard she barley had time to notice a shadow pass over the orangey-pink paper before something covered her eyes, and restrained her arms. She struggled to remove the restrictions but whoever had grabbed had a far greater physical strength.

She aimed a kick behind her and heard a hiss as her foot made contact with something. Feeling hope brewing in the pit of her stomach, she resumed the barrage of blind attacks with her feet. It really did not help that whatever was covering her eye was completely smothered in chakra - all she could see was a disgusting blackish-purple glob! Wait, purple? Why was that so familiar?

She rolled off her bed, hoping to throw her attacker of from the sudden movement, but the grasp remained firm. Naruto growled, and slammed her attacker backwards into the bedside cabinet, pushing back off her feet to gain the momentum needed. She tried slamming the stranger into her table, but only seemed to succeed in breaking it. Loosing her temper she yelled loudly at her assailant, blatantly irritated.

"For fucks sake, let go of me and face me like a damn ninja if you're that desperate for a fucking fight!" she growled.  
"Sorry kid, but Orochimaru-Sama doesn't want any more damn interference from you tonight!" a gruff female voice informed her before something hit the spot below her head, but above her neck with force.

As her vision darkened, she remembered why the blackish-purple was so familiar; it was the colour of Sasuke's chakra when he used the doom-hickey. Orochimaru was up to something, and she was willing to bet her entire apartment that it involved her brother.

"Sa…suke…" she mad an attempt to stumble for the door, before she hit the wooden floor with a loud thud.

The red-haired girl who had knocked her out with the back of a kunai rubbed her shin where one of Naruto's kicks had made contact.  
"Thank god for that…" she grumbled, before walking over to the unconscious girl kunai in hand.

"Got a good vocabulary for a green horn though, I'll give you that," she added with grudging appreciation.

* * *

Ino frowned as she hurried through the streets of night time Konoha. It was late enough that even the civilian clubs were looking somewhat calm, but Ino was far from calm. She had lost track of Naruto's chakra consciousness not long since, and that meant attack.

Even when under anaesthetic, or sleeping, she could always feel the consciousnesses of other; only an abrupt attack or death could cut it off from her completely. She caught sight of Naruto's window in the dark streets and dashed towards the building. Eyes on the window, she could see two… well one figure was human, the other she wasn't sure, but she noticed a smaller, limp figure being passed between them.

Blood running cold, she halted in her tracks and chased after the figure now carrying the smaller over one shoulder.

'_Dad! Inoro! Something bad is happening! Someone just took off with Naruto!'  
'__Eh?! What'd anyone want Naruto for?'_ came the reply of her twin.  
'_Shut up! I'm serious! Where's dad?!'_ Ino sent her thoughts back angrily, using her chakra to leap from the ground and onto the roof to follow the not-so-human guy.

She could not use the Mind-Transfer technique moving like this, and she could not read his consciousness at all! Even if he had not signed the scroll, she should be at least able to break in enough to get a rough guess of his direction; he wasn't masking his chakra but… It damn felt like it!

'_He's still on that mission to Land of Iron! Where are you Ino?'  
'__I'm following the creep! He just passed over the spice avenue; I don't know where he's heading though! I can't get anything from him; it's like he's blocking me!'_ she growled.  
'_Keep following! I'll go to the Hokage! Don't loose him Sis!'_

"Easier said than done…" Ino growled, upping her pace to keep the multiple-armed man in range.

* * *

_**Aren't I just evil? I don't know if I'll finish Part I next chapter, or the chapter after that, but soon cometh a little flashback chapter, and then onto Part II! I can't wait, Part I is so boring compared to Part II. Or is that just me? I think the shit just really begins to hit the fan in Part II**_

_**Orochimaru, for all his faults, is right about watching things move; adding a spanner in the works proves very entertaining when done properly and when doing so does not endanger ones life; this is where he slipped up with Sasuke, although Sasuke is a definite spanner for Konoha right now. Naruto's gonna seriously going to put his Therapy Technique into overdrive if he wants to talk Sasuke back to sanity.**_

_**Though honestly, I think they're both going to end up killing each other, after one of them kills Mandarin. Probably Naruto, cause then Sasuke will be all 'you-killed-my-ancestor-biatch! I'm-going-avenger-on-your-ass-cause-I-really-don't-have-any-family-now-even-if-he-was-just-angry-crazy-bitter-old-dude-I-never-liked-anyway-and-someone-totally-has-to-die-for-that!'**_

_***Sniffle* poor Mandarin. Everybody hates his gutsies.  
Comments appreciated!  
Nat  
xxx**_


	11. Act XI: This Is A Rescue?

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY**

* * *

**ACT XI  
~ THIS IS A RESCUE? ~**

* * *

"_Can we be certain she will have any effect on him?" Jirobo asked the medic._

_The plan, they had learned of upon call to Orochimaru's quarters, made sense and would undoubtedly benefit Orochimaru if it played out the way they intended. That was if it played out though; there were no guarantees his team-mate could create the desired reaction from Sasuke even if it worked out._

"_Konoha prides itself on its policy of encouraging relations between its ninja; unity is what makes them such a strong village, but we can use that to our advantage. Whilst another village wouldn't hesitate to ignore our threat, Sasuke will not," Kabuto explained._

"_More that that, the Jinchuriki's hold on Sasuke is stronger than most, far stronger; it wouldn't be a long shot to say they were… like family. It is that strong bond that will grant me the power I need" Orochimaru chuckled, at his words and at the raised eyebrows of his four loyal drones._

"_Permit me your ears a while before you leave"_

* * *

Sasuke whirled around and flung a kunai into the darkness behind him.

"Who ever it is stalking me, get out her right now before I start throwing fireballs!" he yelled in an irritated voice.

His grandparents, surprised by Naruto's disappearance form their home, had insisted on sending him over to her flat with some of the Senbei from the shop. He knew Naruto wanted some time by herself to think things over, but you couldn't really argue with his grandparents when they looked so worried. He had resolved to simply knocking at the door, explaining, and then leaving.

As he had made his way through the village though, he'd felt eyes on him. And not the usual ones belonging to his hordes of stalker-girls, but eyes that emitted feelings of nothing but trouble. The bad kind of trouble.

He was proven correct when two figures shot out form the darkness, one landing in front, and one behind him. A kunai in each hand, he glared at the two-headed guy, then the large man behind him. He recognised them vaguely as two of the [people who had supported Orochimaru out of the village after the invasion.

"I don't care what you have to say; I have no interest in going to that disgusting snake" he spat at the two-head.  
"Oh, you know what were here for? Seems you aren't so stupid after all, but if you think you have a choice in coming with us, you're sorely mistaken" two head grinned viciously.

"all I have to do is flare my chakra to signal level, and there'll be twenty ANBU within the minuet; I'm not stupid enough to think I can beat you, but I can certainly put up with you till they arrive" Sasuke growled warningly.

He hated being such a coward, but if these guys were Orochimaru's helpers, then there was a fair chance they were high Jonin level. Sasuke still could not get a decent hit on Kakashi when he put his book down, and Kakashi was a pegged future Hokage, even if he had not gained the position this time round.

"You might want to rethink that statement brat," a new voice stated, landing down on his right.

It was a redheaded girl, and she had an unnervingly smug look on her face, and was carrying something in her left hand, but the night time shadows hid the object itself from his view.  
"You don't want anything bad happening to your little girlfriend do you?" she held up her hand and opened her fingers.

His blood boiled cold as the obnoxious yellow locks fluttered to the concrete of the pathway. Not even thinking of the consequences, he lunged at the redhead as black marks spread angrily across his skin. The burst of power was addictive certainly, but all he cared about was using everything in his arsenal to pound these snake dogs to the dirt.

No one had been stupid enough to try to touch Naruto in the academy - partly her own reputation, but mostly his. And that was when they were friends. When they started dating, no boy had dared come within ten feet of her when he was around except those from his own graduating class, but this was not the academy, and they were not simply dating.

Naruto was his _sister_. His _younger_ sister and these sick fuckers had attacked her. He hoped that killing these people would not pose any problem for their new Hokage, but even if it did, he could care less. They were definitely dead; and if they did not die, he would give them to Itachi. He had no doubt anything Itachi could shell out would be twice what he could.

The power the cursed seal gave him was evident, and he began to think that maybe he could actually get rid of them as he pounded his fists, threw fireballs, and launched shuriken towards each of the three in his rage. Things went downhill when two head fatty and bitch activated angry seals of their own - different to his, but undoubtedly as equally powerful.

He was slammed into the pavement by the fat guy, and kept down by a massive hand around his throat. He did not bother to consider how demeaning it was to claw at the mans hand; he remembered there were four of them, which meant one of them was still with Naruto somewhere, and as much as he trusted her to get herself out of trouble he would rather be on hand top help.

"I told you it wouldn't work you fucking idiot!" the redhead yelled at the two-headed man.  
"Not my idea, Kabuto's, you got the seishingan pellets? We'd better force one of them into him now"

Sasuke had no idea what Seishingan pellets were, but he definitely did not want to find out. The name sounded bad enough, never mind swallowing on of them. He clawed more viciously at the hand around his neck, trying to kick his holder off him.

Said captor was a rather large heavy man though, and his efforts were rather useless. The redheaded girl pried apart his jaws, and he tried clamping them on her hand, but she had brute strength to rival Ino and Naruto combined (and together those two could last against Choji for at least a few minuets longer than he could).

The two-headed man shook a small black pellet from a bottle, and with the redhead's aid managed to drop it into his mouth. A disgusting taste washed over the roof and back of his mouth as the thing began to mix with his saliva, but he refrained from swallowing. The brute girl kept his jaws closed, preventing spitting it into her face, and he two-head pinched his nose closed to block of all his airways.

If he was to breathe he was left with no choice but to swallow, and he figured he'd just deal with whatever happened, since Naruto would resurrect his soul then kill him again if he let himself be killed by a sound ninja (he didn't entertain the idea much himself). He regretted it as the almost instant scorching fire charred his bones, blood, his entire body.

Then everything turned black.

* * *

Kidomaru stared at the frizzy-haired blond strung over his shoulder. Mumbling seemed to have been coming from her the past few minuets, and he could not do with having her wake up. Then again, she seemed to be dreaming something, so it was not too bad.

_New eyes stared at the chaos taking place around them; red liquid, chunks of flesh and bright bone were perceivable amongst the destructed buildings, not that the eyes watching new that was what they were to be called. A howling roar deafened fresh ears, and the wind rushed past on equally fresh skin, a feeling of flight emerging from the sensation, bangs crashes, and more voices - two new ones this time._

"_You don't have to do this sonny; surely you don't want to leave her an orphan? Jiraiya could do it, or Hizuren!" a gargled, wet, grim voice stated - it was loud, nearby, but the eyes couldn't find it's point of emission._

"_I know that, but… what kind of village leader would I be if I let someone else take my place? Besides, she wont be an orphan; she'll have Kushina, Fugaku, and she has three older brothers to look after her! I'll bet anything that old priest will keep an eye out too…" a second voice replied, from above this time._

_Eyes glanced upwards and a bright spiky colour met them, and two smaller dots of a different brightness glanced at them. They glittered with something, a wet something. A cry wailed out when another roar echoed through fresh ears._

"_Say that like you meant it will you Minato?" the gargled voice from below intoned loudly. _

_A loud roar crashed over the end of the wet-sounding words, and those bright dots looked down again, dribbling. Another loud roar, and the feeling of flight re-emerged, and the strangled young cries increase in volume to match the crashes around/._

"_Gimme a break Bunta! I don't particularly want to say it!" the yellow voice yelled at the garbled one, before turning the bright dots back to the new ones below them._

"_With any luck, you'll never reach eight tails of chakra, so I'm going to take this time to apologize for what I'm doing to you. Though if we do meet again, you'll probably kick me in the nuts for this anyway!" white teeth grinned down as the dribble of liquid splashed onto unsullied wrinkled-pink cheeks._

_There was a brief crushing sensation, and the red swirling eye received a closer view of the spiky yellow brightness. A dampness on skin. A small hand reached up, crying ceasing to a lower register as it grasped the bright yellow._

"_I'm so sorry Naruto, but there's no other way. Just stiffen that upper lip for Daddy okay? This won't take long, I promise!" larger fingers unwillingly unclenched the hand, before something was drawn on the infantile stomach with the red liquid._

"_Forgive me… Reverse summoning: Flying Thunder God Technique!"_

_A roar of a giant beast was heard before a different kind of flying sensation was felt, and a dimly lit black room appeared. The howls were distant now, but still noticeable over the chatter of  
voices - more unfamiliar voices talking nonsensical words._

"_Make sure she's in the centre of the seal Deidara! If she's out by so much as a millimetre it won't work!" a soft, but orderly-harsh voice commanded.  
"__I know mum!" red eyes turned to meet pale-coral blue ones and movement was sensed. A tiny hind reached towards a different yellow, not quite as bright as that before, grasping towards the long strands._

"_That's my hai-Ow! Mum, get her of my hair, yeah! Ow! Ow!"_

_A pair of rough, gentle hands removed the grip._

"_Go sit down so you don't get in the way Deidara"  
"__Yes Mr. Uchiha" a pouting tone emerged from the less-yellow mass before it disappeared._

_A bark - a dogs bark - penetrated all ears loudly.  
"__That's Tsume's signal! It's starting!" another unfamiliar voice stated._

_Nothing for a few moments, then it appeared, large, pale, and hulking with a knife between its teeth. On one hand, it dragged a writhing red transparent mass, the figure forced it forwards, and then there was fire. Horrible burning fire, twisting, unrelenting and agonizing. _

_Another pair of red eyes watched for a few moments before orange blocked one, and they twisted into the air._

* * *

He stepped up his pace, egging the ninja behind him to keep following. He couldn't tell, but he was certain it would be the unconscious girls team-mate, that meant shed have used that telepathy Kabuto warned him about for back up.

Catching sight of the village border he stepped up his pace once again, ignoring the mumbling from the girl on his shoulder till she twitched in her sleep; a sign of wakening. He pulled a sedative hypodermic from his kunai pouch and forced it into the girl's veins, via one of the arms hanging over his shoulder.

The sedative was strong enough to knock out an elephant for a few days, but there were no taking chances with Jinchuriki. Their demons bolstered their immune system, and any foreign substances or poisons were worked through rapidly. He did not want her waking up, and this would keep her out of their hair of several days; it gave them more than enough time to reach the border between Rice and Fire Country.

Or somewhere she could prove her usefulness once and for all.

* * *

"What?! Naruto?!" Kiba asked, stumbling enough for Akamaru to near slip from the position on his head.  
"Ino's following them now, you up for it?" Shikamaru asked.  
"Do you have to ask?! I though you were a genius! Have you gone to Sasuke yet?" Kiba asked, grabbing sandals from the shoe holder by the door, pulling one on, and hopping out as he pulled on the other.

Shikamaru frowned.  
"That's the thing; I went to his grandparents place to call him up, but his Grandma said he'd hasn't come back from Naruto's. I've looked all over the village, and I even asked Teuchi, but I can't find him" he replied, turning down the street at a quick pace.

"Think he's already gone after them? Hey, isn't this the way to the Aburame compound?" Kiba asked, noting the landmarks and shops.  
"I'm calling up Shino - and no, Inoro went straight to the Hokage after Ino contacted them"  
"Speaking of boar-head, why isn't he here?"  
"Broken arm in the invasion, and not enough medics to heal it quickly" Shikamaru droned, stopping outside the Aburame compound and talking to the high-collared watcher.

Kiba considered all the facts he had so far and couldn't help but feel something was off about the whole thing; Sasuke had always had some sort of sixth sense when it came to his girlfriend, long before the term could be used on her. It was by no means on the Yamanaka level, but it was more than just a 'bad feeling', so his absence was glaringly abnormal to the boy.

Lifting Akamaru from his head, he brought the dog to the ground.  
"Go sniff around for Sasuke, boy; I'll meet you at the gates if you can't find anything. Come get us if you pick something up while Shikamaru hires the rest of the troops! Go!"

The small dog yipped acknowledging before scuttling down the street, nose glued to the cobblestones.

* * *

Ino felt a feeling of dread wash over her as she caught sight of the ninjas forehead protector; the musical not was a sickening sight, not helped the mocking, triumphant smirk on the weirdo's face. Sound, as in Orochimaru. They were not after Naruto at all, they were after Sasuke! Now she was too far from the village - having chased the man since the small hours of the morning - to contact her brother!

What on earth was she supposed to do?! On the one hand, Naruto was clearly in need of help, and on the other the rest of the sound entourage were likely just as far away with Sasuke, if things had gone their way. She hoped someone noticed something was off before they all came chasing after Naruto; she would likely need a bit of backup, but if Inoro had told the Hokage properly, then there would be a whole squad on the way!

Gritting her teeth, she pulled out one kunai from her holster, and flung it towards the sneering man. He dodged easily, flinging her friend to the earth to allow a proper battle. He lunged towards her, and she dodged just as easily - she had a team of two Sharingan users! Dodging this guy was easy compared to when Naruto and Sasuke fought her all out.

A long hard needle shot from his mouth and she quickly swerved out of the way. She did not like the odds that that was a one-throw shot at all, and considered all her options. The man had left a kind of sticky gungy substance on her leg as she dodged him the first time, and avoiding that was probably in her best interests until she could figure out what it did.

Mind transfer was completely out of the question right now; she couldn't hold anyone off for any lengthy period of time with it just yet (further highlight how suicidal it had been to use it on the snake man), and it would leave her vulnerable to his companions should they arrive. The mind-body disturbance… it took up half her chakra in a single shot.

Ino cursed her lack of variety; she could use a shadow clone a few times, but other than that, some pretty lame illusions, and he fists she had nothing! Damn it, why couldn't she have some kick-ass techniques like that Hokage lady, or even her team-mates?! The though of the new Hokage brought an image of the fight that had played out between her and Naruto prior to the creation of the bet, particularly the woman's strength… Sasuke had said something about pushing the chakra out of her fists…

Ino gave the six-armed man a shit-eating grin ash she lunged towards him.

* * *

"Akamaru said what?!" Shikamaru asked, voice raising perhaps an octave.

"There are two trails for Naruto, and Sasuke's scent is with one of them but it's a fake! Ino isn't following him, but she's got a strong smelling guy in her direction; Sasuke's scent has three strong ninja with him but Naruto's scent is so faint its like he just came into contact with her for a while before she disappeared!" Kiba replied waving his hands in the air.

"I don't like the sound of this" Neji grumbled, frowning in concentration.

Shikamaru couldn't help but agree with the older boy; that meant Sasuke had run off, he was dealing with two kidnappings at the same time, or Naruto had run off. In any situation, it was not a positive outlook. Kidnappings, ninja's gone rouge, and the presence of enemy ninja were not welcome thoughts.

"I hate rescue missions…," he complained lowly, unheard by the gathered Genin.  
"Can you tell what village theyre from?" Choji asked.

"Akamaru just says there was a lot of snake in their scents; it grossed him out a bit" Kiba replied, an affirmative bark from his young dog.

Snakes. Great, snakes meant Oto ninjas. Oto ninjas meant Orochimaru. In Shikamaru's book, Orochimaru meant a god damn troublesome pain in the rear-end. He had gone against Oto ninjas before, and they were far from being pushovers; they weren't even on the pushover scale.

"Shikamaru, didn't Inoro say something about that Orochimaru guy doing something to Sasuke? He was complaining about it because Ino tried possessing the guy or something else stupid like that…"

Shikamaru stiffened at Choji's words and all his other theories flew out of the window. This was not a kidnapping, it was a diversion! Sasuke had been the target all along; Naruto was just a form of insurance. No doubt, Sasuke had objected top that but the fact his trail left the village meant he had been overcome by the other ninjas.

That meant he had a rescue attempt to accomplish in two different directions with four Genin (six if he included the already pursuing Ino).that meant splitting up; he couldn't let Ino handle the ninja who had taken Naruto by herself, but he needed all the help he could get with those who had taken Sasuke.

Never mind that splitting up was one of the worst situations to be found in, who on earth was he supposed to send without knowing of the enemies capabilities. He wished Ino had been a little more specific with the details. He didn't expect a biography, but something on the one she was following would have been helpful.

He could send Neji after her, but he needed the manpower he provided against the other three. Choji was no good for pursuing (there was no secret his tracking skill were barley above abysmal), he was immediately ruled out for sake of lead ninja scenarically going with the larger force, and he needed at least one tracking ninja to follow Sasuke's trail.

So, Shino or Kiba? Then again, he didn't know how much back up Ino would need. He didn't like the idea of loosing manpower, but someone would have to go after Ino and Naruto along with one of his two trackers. But who? He paused for a long moment, considering his options, before reaching a quick decision; he didn't know how effective it would be, but they were already a day behind, and time was of the essence.

"Shino, Neji, I want you two to go after Ino's trail and help her. Shino can use signal three to let us know when you finish up, and two if you need back up. The rest of us will join when we can later on, or vice-versa. This is a rescue mission now, so move wit that in mind; if you have to let the sound ninjas off, do it. Naruto and Sasuke are the priority," he instructed.

After checking their supplies, Shino and Neji sped off to the west after Ino, following the trail with the aid of Shino's minute exoskeletal residents. After forming a line up with the remaining two ninja at his disposal, they too darted out of the village - heading northeast. Shikamaru remembered with a sinking feeling geography lessons, and that northeast from their current location led to Rice Country, and Otogakure.

* * *

Ino balled her fists as she lunged at the spider-like ninja, gathering as much chakra as she could into them. She was by no means certain of how the technique was done, but when in doubt, improvisation was key. She pushed out her chakra in a short quick blast, and noted it didn't nearly have the same destructive force as that of their leader.

However, that was to be expected. It was good enough to create a small crater though, despite the burning skin on her knuckles; the expulsion of chakra and the impact on the earth had not fared well on her fist. She had seen worse injuries on her team-mates though, and was by no means going to allow them to steal all the thunder.

The man hurled spiked yellowish needles towards her, and she winced as one tore lightly into her side as she attempted to doge, he had fast accurate throws - disgustingly better than her own. Ino desperately wanted to scramble the mans mind to jelly, and gathered her chakra in her fists once again, moving a portion to her feet as well

More blows were exchanged, and she managed to cause something to crack in the man's shoulder (with one well-aimed kick) as she dodged the globs of sticky gunk almost completely (some spots still found their way onto her clothing and her short pale-straw coloured locks). This rendered on of the man's arms useless, but he was still left with five others.

_'If I disable all his arms, he won't have anything to make those weird spikes with…'_ she thought to herself, panting slightly. The expulsion of so much of her (admittedly increased) reserves of chakra was catching up quickly, and she was no closer to finishing the man off. Her knuckles were in tatters from the impact on the rocky ground, but that wasn't quite yet a problem.

She lunged again, ducking to avoid a spray of sticky web from the man - there had not been many, but it made finding her balance difficult. It seemed to be made of the same stuff as the gunk on her clothing, and she didn't dare think what would happen if she landed on one of the nets. Her fist bloodied connected with the creeps' shoulder, and she heard a crack. He hissed loudly, and after backing up in could see another arm dangling uselessly.

_'Yahey!'_ she cheered to herself silently, breath coming less easily after her last punch. She charged again, twisting her leg to crash it into the side of his head. He smirked, grabbed her leg in a deathlike grip with one of his supposedly useless hand. She felt the gummy substance emitting from his skin piercing her lower calf - thin needles sinking down into the bone of her leg and ankle as she was flung backwards.

* * *

Shikamaru frowned once again as Kiba's voice faded behind him; he had already left Choji behind withy the chakra-sucking fat guy in order to get this far. He seriously hoped that he would be able to catch up with the redheaded girl carrying the ominous feeling container soon. He didn't know what it was, but he was certain that whatever it did would be in Sasuke's disinterests.

Pausing to lay down several exploding tags with haphazard haste, He formed a series of hand signs and a plain clone appeared beside him. There was another poof of smoke as it took on a transformation before disappearing onto the undergrowth. It reappeared up ahead, under the guise of Naruto, much to the surprise of the redheaded girl. Closing up behind her, he formed the hand sign for the shadow possession technique with time bought by the clone, dodging the redhead's blows.

"What the hell? I knocked you out bitch!" the red head screamed at the clone moments before his shadow caught onto hers. The moment she froze, the clone grinned before dispersing into the air amidst a puff of smoke. Feeding chakra into his shadow, and keeping her in her frozen state, he quickly unhooked the casket from her back.

It was leaking ominous looking fumes.

The moment his shadow disconnected hers, he let fly a hurl of kunai with attached exploding tags, and received loud swearing in response from the Oto ninja. He funnelled chakra into one of the pre-laid tags with his foot, and more yells told him it had activated bang on schedule. His joviality was cut short when a sickly-looking white-haired ninja appeared on the branch in front of him.

"Shit; I miscalculated" Shikamaru grumbled as the new ninja threw a red-ink exploding kunai into the air.

* * *

_'Shit! He was just pretending after I got the first arm! I was careless!'_ Ino berated, aiming a punch onto her own foot. Her eyes widened when it did not shatter as it was supposed to. She tried again as he came down upon her with one of the larger yellowish needles, rolling to one side to doge before trying to release her foot once again.

Failing, she dropped the task, standing on her feet and ignoring the biting pain that shot through her every time she moved her foot. She had little chakra left, and could barley stand; it would be a good point for some back up to arrive. A loud bang somewhere to the east captured both their minds for a few moments; a red cloud of smoke billowed above the trees.

Dashing towards him as he was distracted, she decided to try something else; she sharpened her chakra as best she could to a fine point on the tips of her fingers, and pulled them directly over the mans face, aiming for his eyes. He dodged, and the thin points tore at the skin of his cheek and neck instead. As she was thrown back once again, the faint spots of chakra finally registered within her parameter.

Back up had finally arrived, the tiny flittering told her one was an Aburame and… a Hyuuga! Oh, this was perfect! She pulled herself back to her feet with a newfound hope; all she had to do was keep him from leaving until they arrived, and then she could get to Naruto. Before she could prime herself for an attack, the man slammed his hands into the dirt shouting something that sounded not promising.

A thick barrier erected itself over her, and one brush with her damaged hands was enough to send a current of lightning through her. Picking herself up from the ground blearily, she watched through the dim violet glow as the man threw a blue outlined exploding kunai up into the air (creating similarly coloured smoke) before turning to her unconscious team-mate.

He did not pick her up as she expected, but pulled out three needles containing clear liquid with increasing degrees of cloudiness. Ino gathered her chakra and pounded her fist into the barrier once again, feeling a small leeway before her body crackled with frizzy light once again. The barrier obviously wasn't that strong if there was a gap between contact and reaction; if she kept up her attack, she might be able to break out.

However, she could not keep her chakra punches up for ever. Physical attacks would have to suffice for now. She pounded the barrier, barley pausing to recover from the shocks it sent through her as she watched the cloudy substances being forced into Naruto's veins. She could feel the leeway getting larger.

A black ring-like mark was appearing around Naruto's neck, and Ino had no desire to find out what it meant or did. She increased he barrage on the barrier, throwing kicks into the mix. She let out a scream when her spiked foot made contact with the barrier, but it seemed to do the trick as the barrier burst and she collapsed to new dirt.

She struggled to a crawl position, strength sapped from her body, and glared at the new presence - a white haired freak carrying a giant bucket on his back. He took Naruto's stirring form from the spider-like freak, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Don't you dare you bastard!" she hissed.  
"You can still talk? What is it with you Konoha ninja and the refusal to die? That's the same problem I had during the invasion"  
"Konoha ninja are notoriously stubborn - it has to do with their religious beliefs I believe" the white-haired mad informed him calmly, turning his gaze on Ino.

The allusion the 'will of fire' struck a chord inside her, and she dug around inside the donkey pocket of her shirt, pulling a vial of a thin, watery - with an oily sheen - pale violet liquid. She broke the seal on the cork with a swipe of her thumb, and quickly swallowed the liquid.

It was something of her own creation, with aid from her father's medical neurology books, and her brother's team-mates - her cousins. After strenuous research she and Shikamaru had finally come up with a formula similar to the Akimichi Triple Threat pellets; greater power for a limited time, but with side effects.

For the moment, she referred to it as a Brain Juice Boost; increasing brain activity and forcibly creating substitute physical energy by increasing the mental energy to form pure chakra. She was still working on the mix, but even at its current level it had its side effects; once it eventually wore off, she would be trapped in a coma for days, possibly months from the neural and psychological damage.

Inoro had been the insistent guinea pig, and her father was under the impression he had come the wrong side of a botched interrogation technique. It was a feasible lie; she was nowhere close to understanding the first stage. Feeling her strength flowing back, her injured dimming in intensity, she pulled herself back to her feet and charged at the white haired man, sensing Neji and Shino coming upon tarantula man behind her.

He dodged her, twisting gracefully on the palm of his foot before darting in the direction of the border. He was faster than she was, but she could tell from his body movement he was in pain, maybe from an old injury. In a battle of stamina, she wasn't going to go down for two days without some serious chakra expulsion.

She'd run him to the ground. If she caught up to him before that though… There was a forbidden technique of her fathers she had been forced to swear would never be used on someone undeserving. She was itching to try it out, and in her book, the white-haired freak more than met the requirements.

* * *

Neji watched Ino breaking out of the barrier with one final enhanced punch - enhanced with her chakra. He could tell with the milky coloured bloodline that the hard yellow casing on her left ankle was sending pointed spikes from within into her limb. Her knuckles were bloodied, and there was evident damage from chakra to her finger bones.

He did not profess to know Ino very well, but he had heard talk of the female clan heir; while rather frivolous outside of the job, she usually kept a cool head. He had seen so observing the battle she had against her brother, and earlier in the Chunin exams against the sound ninja with her twin's team.

This Ino was far from cool-headed; he supposed that the sayings about the Yamanka Clan were right. Removing a pebble could bring down the whole mountain. Naruto and Sasuke were two of Ino's pebbles.

He watched, increasing his pace with Shino as she swallowed a liquid thick with chakra enhancers. The primary creator of the mental chakras glowed brighter almost instantly, and her depleted reserved rapidly began to increase. He did not know what she had just taken, but her pathways, almost drained before, were now drowning in chakra - different from the usual but looking more malleable to his eyes.

He and Shino tackled the man with six arms as Ino clawed at the white-haired one; Neji wondered how he was standing with his body in such a state but turned his focus back to the sound ninja. Even in the state she was in, Ino was fit enough to chase after and permanently deal with the sickly man.

Or rather, he was not suicidal enough to get in her way; she looked angrier than Hinata did during PMS.

* * *

"What?!" Itachi growled in horrified anger, dropping the head-hunting scroll in his hand to the floor of Tsunade's office.

The room, empty of anyone else, was covered by a shattered silence, and Itachi did not think to remove his mask.

"Ino used the Yamanaka telepathy to inform her brother yesterday; he came straight to me with the news of Naruto's abduction. Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke and Kiba Inuzuka were dispatched to bring her back under the command of Shikamaru Nara yesterday morning. I'm awaiting relayed information from Shibi Aburame via his son's colony" Tsunade expanded her previous statement to the horrified Anbu.

Itachi blinked in surprise.

"Sasuke?"

Tsunade smiled.  
"You didn't expect him to let someone else rescue your sister did you?" she asked with a smirk.

"How did you-" Itachi began; rather surprised she knew Naruto's exact relation ship to him and Sasuke.

Tsunade laughed.  
"Well for one thing, Jiraiya was spying on them as they raided the medical record room yesterday afternoon. For another, I was the doctor who signed her birth certificate"  
"She knows then?" he asked, no longer fazed thanks to the given explanations.

"more like deduced; the certificate in the records room was heavily edited to avoid other ninjas discovering her existence; why they didn't destroy it I have no idea, but it is not the  
original. They figured it out thanks to your mother's death certificate, but theyre still looking for hard evidence," Tsunade explained.

"Why don't you just tell them?" she asked then, surprising Itachi a small amount.  
"I promised my father I wouldn't till they were sixteen. I had every intention of breaking it, but now…" he left it hanging.

The Hokage gave him an understanding gaze before Shizune burst into the room with, in Itachi's opinion, an unusually frazzled Aburame clan member. Closer inspection revealed it to be Shibi.

"Shibi, finally! What's happening? I've already sent out an extra squad, but I'd love to know what were dealing with right now!" Tsunade greeted harshly, her tone turning to a business one.

The man gave Itachi a questioning look before shrugging it off.

"Shino just sent word to me with one of his females; Naruto's abduction seems to have merely been a diversion by the sound ninja to coerce Sasuke Uchiha, but he witnessed one of the abductors continuing on towards the border with her. Ino Yamanaka is injured, but in strong pursuit. Neji Hyuuga believes she has taken a forced chakra enhancer. The status of the remaining team members are unknown due to a necessary split up" he droned professionally.

Itachi's knuckles turned white; sound was the equivalent to Orochimaru. He knew why the snake man wanted Sasuke, but Naruto? She was of no interest to the man, even with her own share of the bloodline.

"Thank god I called up that extra insurance," Tsunade growled with relief.

Was the team on par with the Sannin themselves? He hoped so; Orochimaru had connections to Madara, close ones if his father was to be believed, but Orochimaru was not the type to blindly obey anyone from what he remembered of the man. In addition, from what his father had told him, Madara could care less if Orochimaru obeyed him or not.

So why Naruto?

He waited until Shibi was escorted out of the office before pulling of his mask and looking the woman square in the eye, pitting his request.

"Gather Kakashi Hatake, Tsume Inuzuka, and Inochi Yamanaka. I want all those kids back in Konoha before the night is out Itachi"  
"As you wish Hokage-Sama"

Tsunade could have sworn she saw a smirk on Itachi's face before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

When Naruto awoke, she knew she was a long way from Konoha and that her kidnapping was about to take a sever turn for the worst. Something was boiling under her skin, she felt horrible, and it only seemed to get worse. She could feel the tags that drained her own chakra to keep her restrained on her wrists and ankles, and man with white hair was busy injecting a substance of some sort into the junction of her neck and shoulder. She could not see the colour, but she was certain it would not be good whatever it was.

There was an ominous chakra somewhere beyond her vision, but she was more focused on the seals being drawn on her neck with the man's blood. He did not look right, and if she sniffed, there was a faint smell of hospitals around him. Either he was a doctor, he was ill, or he was both. Whichever way, the shit was about to hit the fan.

"What the hell do you creeps want with _me?" _she hissed, trying to keep her chakra suppressed.

Not only would it help with getting the tags off her, but she could tell her reserves were low from the length of time they had been siphoning it from her. The sun was low in the sky; she had been taken long after sundown. Almost an entire day of chakra siphoning meant any chakra usage would come from the fox and in her current state that would be bad. She used her own chakra to hold back the fox, if they took too much she would not be able to rein it in if it emerged.

"Sasuke is very attached to you; in order to gain power Orochimaru-Sama insists that you be taken care of" he replied, administering another drug.  
"Sorry, but I'm not following that; you kill me, and the Kyuubi goes with me" she protested.

He gave her a speculative look as he removed the needle from her neck, which did nothing to ease her curiosity or her worries. She really did not like the look he was giving her; it was as if he was amused by the whole affair.

"You do not know of it I see"  
"Well duh bozo; I wouldn't be asking if I did now would I?"

The chakra oozing somewhere beyond her head was getting more portentous by the moment; what on earth was it? She hoped to god it had nothing to do with Sasuke, but she somehow doubted that was the case.

"Then I will give you a short brief before I go keep your mind reader friend occupied; to increase the potency of his bloodline, Sasuke is going to kill you."

* * *

_**I hate reading cliff-hangers, but god ****I love writing them! It fills the twisted and immoral part of my mind with tormented twisted happiness. Go throw your knifes at someone else! I will not give them back! I'm like the grouchy old man who lives in the creepy mansion who won't give back the football; you will never see your knives again. Capise? Good.**_

_**Hope you liked.  
Nat.  
xxx **_


	12. Act XII: The Promise Of A Lifetime

**A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY

* * *

****ACT I: SCENE XII  
****~ THE PROMISE OF A LIFETIME ~**

* * *

"_I understand the idea sir, but I don't believe convincing Sasuke to kill his team-mate will that simple" Sakon stated, worry in his tone.  
"__That's what these are for" Kabuto replied holding up a scroll._

"_And they are…?" Tayuya asked, squinting at the scroll.  
_"_Some concoctions of mine; they are keyed to the cursed seal of heaven on Sasuke, and will forcibly draw out the Kyuubi's power when Naruto's chakra is drained" Kabuto began._

_The attentive looks told him the four understood and he continued._

" _The last one will induce a… hypnotism I suppose you could call it; the Konoha mentality will make certain those two be more worried of the other than the reasons they have been left in the first place. Naruto will be pulled towards Sasuke in that state and Sasuke will be drawn to her in much the same manner, thanks to these drugs." _

_Kabuto smiled a sickly smug smile._

_"__Even forced, if Sasuke kills her the effect will be the same when he realises what he has done" he finished, handing the scroll to Kidomaru.  
"__That's amazing and all, but how can the Kyuubi be controlled that easily?" Jirobo asked._

_Orochimaru chuckled lightly from his bed as Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose._

"_The Kyuubi is fused into Naruto's very DNA. It was a simple matter to obtain some from her living quarters during the panic of the invasion; after that, the Kyuubi manifests in a les controlled manner of the cursed seal, and I have ample experience with those don't I?" Kabuto smiled._

* * *

Naruto watched the sound ninja disappear with horror etched onto her features scraping frantically at the edges of the tags sticking to her wrists; it was awkward, as she could not see them but she had to get away from the ominous chakra behind her.

There was no doubt it was Sasuke now; she had to get away before he presumably woke up. Those drugs must have something to do with whatever the creep intended, and she could already feel them beginning to work. Her concentration slipped at moments, distracted by scents, smells, noises, and a sickening draw towards the menacing chakra beyond her vision. One tag was pulled off, tearing some skin from the forced removal, but she pressed on.

The desire for blood ripped through her, a roaring in her mind that blotted all other interference told her the Kyuubi's chakra was beginning to flow through her chakra coils instead of her own, and she hurried her pace. God how many of these damn tags were there? If she didn't get them of quickly, it would be-

Too late.

There was a loud crashing noise behind her, a blast of chakra, and smoke infiltrated her nostrils, smothering all the other scents she had been picking up, including the smell of her own fear.

* * *

When he woke up, the first thing he noted was the unatural grey of his hands fading back to its usual pale peach colour. Second was the area, the valley of the end. Directly on the border! The third thing was the frantic shorthaired form of Naruto, tearing into restraint seals on her wrists, and that identical ones were gluing themselves to her ankles.

"Naruto!"

Not caring of the consequences, he pulled to his feet and darted the fifty or so meters to where she had been left on the rock head of Madara Uchiha. He tore off the seals, pushing his chakra in enough to short-circuit the fragile workings to avoid skin tearing. After removing the ones on her ankles, he forced her eyes to meet his, and examine her for any injuries.

There was torn skin on her wrist from her own attempts to remove the tags, and the metallic scent and red tinge on her scruffy short hair told him she had an injury on her head - likely, she had been knocked out. There were multiple red spots on her neck, and one on her arm…

He didn't know what those were, but they didn't seem serious. Relief flooded him and he crashed into her, forcing the air form her lungs by the momentum. All that was playing through his mind was relief at her apparent moderate unarm. She was still, clearly surprised or relieved, or shocked by the sudden display of affection, before she hesitantly wrapped her arm around his neck and returned the sentiments.

* * *

Contact with Sasuke, despite her fears, dulled the craving that had been growing as he drew closer, and Naruto hesitantly returned the hug. Something else began to build with the contact: the feel of his skin on that of her arms, the scent of his hair, the raspy breath all stirred her blood.

She needed, wanted, craved something; common sense told her that this was the work of all the drugs she had been unwillingly administered, but knowing and doing were different things. It was so strong, far too strong. Her head screamed to run as the biting red chakra began to stir in her chakra coils once again. She ignored it, placing her hands either side of his face; his eyes always looked black, but upon close inspection they were more of a black-blue colour, she could see the navy hints in them; opposite to the deep red of his Sharingan.

She'd never given his eyes so much note before, but there was an unreadable quality discernible in them. Fascination drew her to press her lips on his with force - it made the burning in her blood fierce, and it demanded to be fed.

When he pressed back, tongue grazing over her lips, she couldn't withhold anymore and pushed him back onto the limestone. His hands grazed her sides and the pure want choked her as she pressed with an animalistic ferocity to his lips; it still wasn't enough, nowhere near enough. He tried to flip their position, but a burst of strength shot through her courtesy of the fire-blood, and it failed. Her lips trailed, trailing and lightly gnawing at his neck until they grazed the black tomoe on his left shoulder.

'_Oh no..'_

She stalled the loss of her control long enough to hoarsely mutter one word before the fire clouded her mind and her vision: _"Run!"_

Sasuke stared at her for a few moments before the black disfiguring marks spread over his skin of their own accord, forcing a blank look into his eyes. He was vaguely aware of the Kyuubi chakra spreading into Naruto's visage, but for some reason, he didn't care; all he cared about was having her blood on his hands.

With a snarl and a roar, they lunged.

* * *

Ino pushed off the branches of the trees with force. She had lost track of that stupid white-headed freak! His speed had upped almost instantly, and now he was nowhere in sight; it seemed like the snake creep had been giving his minions lessons on the Konoha clans too, since she couldn't feel his consciousness at all, much like the companion she had left to Shino and Neji.

How the hell had they managed that anyway? Disguising a person's consciousness was damn impossible! People thought even in their sleep; that was dreaming! To consciously hide it was something unheard of! Her father might have a better inkling as to ho they could have managed it, but she was completely baffled. She felt a spike of chakra to the east - ominous chakra she had felt during the Chunin exams. It had slithered in wisps from the seal on Sasuke's neck. It had been ominous back then, but now…

What on earth had happened to him? That chakra was as bad as the Kyuubi's!  
Her feet twisted on one of the branches and she darted towards the sudden spike.

She could feel the drawing closeness of the ominous chakra, and upped her pace once again. She leapt from the trees into a clearing slap in the centre of the forest, racing towards the rocks on the other side of the field. Before she could reach the centre of the grassland, the white haired weirdo made a sudden reappearance, and she grinded to an abrupt halt, swiping two kunai from her holster.

She wasted no time in accosting her blockage, gathering chakra into her fists, almost crushing the kunai they held, and aiming for his temples. He tuned on the ball of his feet, a long white pointed blade appearing seemingly from nowhere as he dodged around her. She whirled and brought the two kunai up in a cross shape to block the stark-white needle that had been aimed at her back.

Gaining a closer look at the white needle, she realised it was one of his bones - probably an arm bone. What kind of freaky bloodline was that? God, and she had thought the Byakugan was a little weird. She didn't like her chances of blocking that bone for long; she needed a technique that would mess it up…

_'Ah! That one! It's perfect!'_ she crowed silently.

She forced her middle index fingers along the edge of the kunai handles, crossing them. A low mutter of 'Shadow Clone Technique' created an exact replica of herself behind him. Before he could whirl to dodge the clone, Ino dropped her kunai, and grasped her chakra enhanced arms and fists onto his wrists. Pushing chakra into her leg muscles gave her some stability against the pressure

"Neural Technique; Polarity Inversion Style!" the clone hissed, an upside-down triangular hand seal aimed at the back of his head, before poofing from existence with chakra use.

Ino smirked at the white-haired sound ninja, feeling smugly victorious. The man was twitching involuntarily, obviously trying to figure out what she had done to him. Ino was not stupid enough to let him now what she had done; let him figure it out himself. It was one of her father's favourite techniques, and unlike many of her family techniques, it did not take up god-awful amounts of chakra when cast. Simply put, it reversed and flipped the mechanics of motor neurons in the brain, neurons responsible for movement of bones and muscle.

If he wanted to lift his left foot, his right hand would slam to the ground.

Even a ninja of his obvious experience would take a while to get around an impediment like that, and if he tried to do too much with his nifty bone work, he could end up spearing himself with his own ribs. It gave her plenty of time to dispose of him before moving on. She gathered her chakra into her fists once more, a proportionately larger amount than she had used previously.

She had to finish him off in one shot; if she didn't, it would be too long a delay. She brought her fist up to his twitching face with a roar, and instantly felt his own bone piercing her skin and the calcium substance in her hand. His hand shot forwards, flat as if using the Hyuuga Jyuuken, and a long point shot from his palm through the right of her lover abdomen.

Ino grunted at the impact, but didn't create a large fuss. She was too surprised by the action to care about the gaping hole in her side; how had it missed him? And how did he even know about the Polarity inversion style? That was a closely guarded section of Yamanaka techniques! Only the head family and the clan elders had access to them!

Orochimaru sharing things was one matter, but knowing about those techniques was quite another!

"How did you dodge it?!" she demanded angrily, pulling her hand from the spokes on his face and taking several leaps backwards.  
"I did not doge it; my bloodline stems from manipulation of calcium through chakra; I simply had to take your technique and re-apply my chakra accordingly" he stated.

Ino watched in horror as he forced his bones through his skin, his ribs grotesquely protruding from his chest. Feeling much less confident than she had been, she fumbled around in her front pocket for another vial - a sickly pink colour. She didn't really want to use this, but the injury on her side forced her to it; the weirdo seemed to have sucked the bone from her hands too - she couldn't move her fingers for jack.

Swilling the sickeningly sweet liquid with haste, she pulled out a few shuriken from her pouch, flinging them toward him in search of a weak spot. His bone spread beneath his skin, she could tell from the white shield beneath the skin where her small weapons hit. Before she could pull out another set, a searing pulse shot through her temples. Collapsing to her knees, she felt the wound beginning to close, but her head, god here head! Her father had warned her it was a nasty vial, but this…!

The incapacitation was untimely, and the bone-manipulator took complete advantage of her hinderancing recovery, and sped forward with a jagged blade of bone. She had just finished healing when she looked up to see the white razor speeding towards her. Too late to doge completely, she decided to make the best of it she could; she formed a circular seal over her heart, gathering all her chakra in the highlighted area-

The blow didn't come. A trickle above her head prompted her gaze upwards, and she double-taked upon sight of the sand shield. Whirling around, she gained a view of the redhead that had one tried crushing and suffocating her with the same sand that now protected her.

_'…The hell?!'_

"Err, as grateful I am that you are saving me, not crushing me, why aren't you crushing me?" she asked.  
"Would you rather I crushed you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"NO! I meant what are you doing here in Konoha?!" Ino replied quickly, darting out from underneath the sand with unmatchable speed.  
"Relax, I was… joking. I don't seem to be very good at it"

Ino stared at him in horror.  
"Please don't do that again," she begged.

If Ino had concentrated with all her might, she would see a slightly sheepish twitch of his blank mouth.

"Go; your team-mates need you help do they not?" the redheaded boy asked in his ever monotonous tone.  
"What about you? That guy is no pushover!" Ino protested.  
"I will deal with him - I am in far better condition than you are at any rate. _Go." _he stressed to the blonde girl.

Ino gave him an inquisitive look; he was completely different to the boy who had tried to crush her. That had to be concern in his voice, but just weeks ago he hadn't cared if he stood in a rain of blood. She grinned her thanks before heading towards the range of craggy rocks. The bone-freak spat the bones from the tips of his fingers in retaliation.

A wall of sand was almost penetrated but the bullets of calcium, but held firm, and Ino quickly darted past him and onto the rocks.

"Thanks sand boy!" she yelled back to the redhead.

* * *

"M-Mum? The hell you doing here?" the triangle-cheeked boy asked groggily.

"Kiba! Kiba! Hang in there okay?! Inochi is patching your side up until the medics can get you back to Konoha! Don't you fucking dare die because of that sound bastard!" Tsume yelled with harsh concern for her son as her old ANBU companion focused on patching up the boy's chest wounds until the medic team arrived.

She had her own medical skills, but she was no field-medic and given that the injured party was her son, she wasn't going to risk a fatal mistake; Inochi was the better field medic, so she would entrust Kiba's life to him.

She couldn't believe he was in such a state; what kind of ninja's did they make in that village of Orochimaru's?! She had seen the corpse of that Oto ninja inside the Suna boy's puppet, and she was thoroughly disgusted. That disgusting snake was responsible for all of this, and he was still angling his claws towards to Naruto and Sasuke. Not just Kiba, but Choji too had been in horrible shape when they had come across him; the medics had instantly rushed him back to Konoha, and now they were waiting on another team to arrive for Kiba. Shikamaru had been luck that Sand girl arrived when she did; he suffered nothing more than a deliberately snapped finger.

As for Shino and Neji, they had yet to find them; Kakashi had left Itachi with one of his summonings before leaving with Choji, but Pakkun's nose was not quite that of an Inuzuka. As much as she wanted to go back to Konoha, she knew her skills would be needed.

Moreover, more importantly, there had been barley a hint of team seven. Concern was building rapidly in her gut; she could not begin to think what Itachi was going through. To her, the two Genin were simply children of her old friends, but to Itachi they really were family. Even if he had not truly been aware of it for some time, Naruto had always been part of the family to him.

She was distracted by the arrival of the medics and Kakashi; focus back to her task, she concentrated on sniffing out Naruto's real trail with her companion hound.

* * *

Kabuto stared at the two unconscious Genin slumped together with a frown on his face.

Naruto certainly looked dead, but the faint colour of life remained in her cheeks despite the Chidori that had been forced through her lung (not that there was any sign of such a thing now). Sasuke looked as pale as always; there was a blast of flesh and bone missing from his shoulder, where the cursed seal had once been.

It was a naïve attempt to remove it - the skin would just grow back with the seal and all, it was in Sasuke's DNA now - but he had to applaud both their attempts to avoid casting a fatal blow on the other. He had been certain they would have been under the influence of his biological mechanics, but when Naruto had broke out of the enforced mentality, the link he had made on Sasuke had reflected back on the boy.

They had managed to avoid death by mere inches.

He could feel two ninja approaching, one very close but slow, and one quickly gaining pace. His assumptions were proven correct when the Yamanaka girl stumbled from the edge of the rocky outcrop on the other side of the waterfall. He picked up Sasuke's prone form, gave the horrified girl a farewell smirk before disappearing in a slick flicker with her team-mate.

* * *

Ino watched the traitorous medic disappear with Sasuke, a sick smirk on his face, in unmitigated horror.

_'NO! No! No! No! No!'_

Denial desperately flooded her mind, countered by the stark fact in front of her in the drizzle. She took a step from her current statuesque position towards the edge of the waterfall with effort - the effects of the boost juice and the healer were taking their effect now. She had used so much chakra just getting here, pushing to her leg muscles to enhance her speed after her half battle with white-hair.

Where was Naruto? She couldn't see her anywhere through the thick drizzle, and she couldn't feel her consciousness thanks to her own mental state either. She had to find Naruto if nothing else though… Knowing she would regret it, but not caring, she focused her chakra and pushed it outward in a wide arc.

A short pulse crackled through her temples, the rear of her mind burning in pain. She fell to the stone of statue-head, clutching her head. The pain was awful, she could barley remember why she was here in the first place…damn it, she had to find… find… She felt blackness consuming her and a voice calling her name before she hit the surprisingly soft rock. Before she submitted to it, she caught Itachi's familiar silhouette, and managed to croak out a few last words.

"T-The Lake! S-She's by t-the lake!" she gasped, shuddering involuntary.

The side effect were taking too long, god couldn't she just collapse already?  
Inoro had completely conked out!

"Ino, what happened to you? Where are they?!" Itachi asked - Ino could not distinguish the worry form the panic.  
"T-The Lake!!" she growled, hissing and moving her hand involuntarily towards her head.

Her head felt full of… She did not know what. Opening her eyes was a task even in the dim light, and every drop of rain was another sharp blade of pressure to her. Her head was going to burst! Why had she made that stupid drink? Why had she taken the healing enhancer too? The mental stress from the first one was enough by itself-

Itachi paled at the scream that burst from Ino and the frantic clawing at her scalp. It was over as quickly as it started and she fell limp in his arms. Suppressing the strange terror that threatened to swallow him, he carefully laid her down, before following her last words and jumping down the side of the statue to its feet. Looking around he could sense traces of malignant chakra, two traces. He recognised one from the curse mark on his brother's shoulder, and one from the demon sealed inside his sister. Her could not see a trace of either, but Ino would not waste the last words she spoke (temporarily last words) by sending him on a wild goose chase.

Finally, he spotted a patch of orange on a splash of damp grey pebbles, and darted over the water. He could feel the traces of Kabuto's chakra even as he drew closer and knew it could only mean one thing; Naruto had not managed to stop Sasuke from being taken. He didn't know how they had ended up trying to kill each other, as was obvious from the state of her clothing, but he couldn't imagine it being of their own accord.

Carefully picking up Naruto's limp form, he hoisted her onto his back, and travelled back over the lack and up the statue once again. Inochi and Kakashi were waiting for him atop the statue, Ino's father hovering his green-covered hands over Ino's temples with a horrified frown on his face.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi silence answered his question for him

* * *

Naruto bleared back to reality as Itachi darted into the hospital. She heard fussing noises, worries from the other Genin, Tsunade and… Was that Jiraiya shouting? Someone carried her - who was it? The smell was familiar somehow, why? She did not receive an answer before she fell to the lure of sleep and anaesthetic.

When she woke up again, she was in a hospital bed. Her skin and bones burned in a horribly familiar manner; she had used the Kyuubi chakra! She had used the Kyuubi against Sasuke! Was he alright? Was he here? Her throat screamed every time she tried to speak - she needed water. God, she needed water! Her movement stirred the form slumped in the chair beside her bed to alertness.

"Naruto! Thank god!" Itachi blurted, with far more emotion on his face than she had ever seen.

He looked worn, as if he had not slept properly in days. Ignoring the scorch of her bones at the movement, she reached towards the water jug and glass on the bedside table. Itachi almost dropped the glass in his haste to pour the water, and the attempt at laughter lit another fire in her throat, soon quenched by the liquid.

She slumped back into the pillows, exhausted by the mere act off drinking.  
"He's gone isn't he?" she asked, voice already drying up.

Sasuke would have been there too, despite doctor orders, if they had succeeded.  
Itachi should have been fussing over Ino instead; he was taking Sasuke place she knew.

"Ino almost got there, but Kabuto was quicker" Itachi relied reluctantly.  
"What happened Naruto?" he asked after some time.

"Kabuto's fucking drugs is what happened!" she rasped, glancing at the water glass again.  
She needed the water but sitting up for it again was far too much for her body to handle.

Itachi fumbled around for a while before the pillows were stacked up behind her; vertical enough to swallow properly, but not so much to cause unnecessary stress. She went on to explain the attack in her apartment and the eventual awakening at the valley. She hesitated for a long moment before asking a question that had been bothering her since the ordeal: "is there a second level to the Sharingan?"

"Yes, but how do you know about that? It's a fairly grim matter to be discussing," he asked with distaste in his voice.

"He… That Oto ninja said Orochimaru wanted Sasuke's Sharingan to _'reach its full potential'_ before he was taken over. Those drugs, they forced us to fight each other somehow… I don't know how, but they did…" she replied quietly.

Itachi's lips thinned. Before he could make any further comments, there was a knock at the window, and the girl's mentor greeted them through the open window.  
"I see you're finally awake; Tsunade'll be over the moon, so watch out for them weapons of hers" he joked, though Naruto honestly found his joke to be more of a warning.

She'd almost been suffocated by the woman the last time shed received a hug from her (she still couldn't believe her boobs were real).

"That's not my main reason for stopping by though; I thought I'd share a piece of good news with the two of you" he grinned, gaining to raised-eyebrow responses (it was one of the few similarities she had with Itachi).

"What is it?" Naruto asked quickly, suddenly feeling the desperate need for joviality.

"Orochimaru was forced to use another body before Sasuke was taken; he can't do the transfer again for at the very least another three years" he informed them seriously, letting the meaning of his words sink in.

Naruto would have smothered his wrinkling cheeks with kisses in gratitude had she been able to move without tearing her muscles or cracking her bones (she was certain that was what happened each time she moved). They may not have stopped Orochimaru, but they had thrown a very large definite wrench in his plans. Three years! Three years to get Sasuke back! Training would definitely be required but…

She would get there, she would get Sasuke back, and while she would get rid of that snake while she was at it! It was a silent promise, not only to Sasuke and the snake, but also to herself. Nobody touched her family and got away with it; besides, name or not she was an Uchiha wasn't she? She could hardly let her family name be insulted by ignoring his actions! But before all that…

"Oi. Old Perv, I'm going to ask you a question and I want a straight answer alright; I'm in no mood for this whacked up 'protection' crap, you get me?" she started, giving the old man a pointed look.

He gave her, along with her brother, a gaze that spoke of curious confusion as he nodded in reply.  
"Is the fourth Hokage my father?"

Itachi fell out of his chair as quickly as Jiraiya fell off the windowsill.  
"…I guess that answers that question then" she grumbled.

"How do you know that?" Jiraiya hissed in shock, trying to keep his surprise at low decibels.  
"You remember when I woke up from that Sharingan illusion thingy?" she asked, gaining two nods.  
"Well, he was talking to me… it was blurry though and I forgot some of it, so I wasn't sure. Kept my mouth shut in case I was wrong, y'know? But I had dream too…"

She turned to Itachi with a sad smile.  
"I saw mum; I look nothing like her right? Sasuke does, but I don't… It was right after I'd been born, my Sharingan had activated…"

She frowned in confusion at her own words.  
"How did it do that?" she asked.

"W-when a bloodline bearer is born, the bloodline activates after some time, usually a few days after birth. It does not matter which one; it is a common trait they all share. It happens once the baby's chakra stabilizes; you must have felt safe to activate it that early. Sasuke took at least three or four days if I remember right…," he explained, dazed buy the revelation.

Naruto smiled again, staring at the sheets of the bed - wringing them with her hands.

"I really thought it was just a dream again - I mean, this is the guy who stuck a fucking demon in my gut!" she explained her voice rising in pitch, her fists scrunching into the sheets, dangerously close to tearing the fabric.

"so I ignored it, but I dreamt the whole damn sealing again last night when they had me knocked out; I couldn't see any of the faces - just lots of blue and yellow - but I could… I could hear everything he said!" her voice near caught in her throat but she squashed it down.

She didn't want to deal with these strange new emotions; Sasuke was gone, she was pretty certain someone else was injured - she hadn't seen Ino at all, and the blonde would normally be poking at her side - impatient for her to wake up), Fugaku was gone, the old man, Konoha was in ruins. She did not want to deal with it!

Before Itachi and Jiraiya could voice their suspicious concern, she turned the conversation around.  
"Where's Ino?" she asked quickly, using a voice that dared them to bring up the previous topic

"…she's not woken up yet; she used some sort of Yamanaka brain booster and regenerative boost; Inochi is still working on her mind as we speak, and the bone of her foot is in pretty bad shape." Itachi replied after a momentary pause.

He did not bother to sugar-coat the damage they had received on the rescue mission; not only would Naruto be livid had she found out he had lied, she was not to be babied. He could tell that she wouldn't allow that anymore; true he and Sasuke had never gone easy on her during practice, but they had found their own ways of trying to keep her out of trouble since she was a child.

She had been his sister long before her Sharingan manifested, and he had treated her as such; she had gotten into a lot of fights with Neji before he graduated the Academey, and Sasuke was always there to drag her home for medical aid when she got in 'too far' for their comfort. In the same way, he'd kept everything his father had told him from her - believing his father's mentality that she was still too young.

Naruto had never been too young, not since she had stubbornly stuck with Sasuke even after finding out they were related, before she found out about Kyuubi, before she got her headband. She had been old enough for things she should not have been long before she was skipped a grade and placed in Sasuke's class at the Academey.

They had looked out for her, offering comfort and support when needed - though that job was predominantly Sasuke's - and she had been fine with it; it was a break from things. She didn't want anymore breaks - she didn't want any more comfort; she wanted to stand without it like she had always been striving to do (she had always been independent). There was a long silence before she asked another question.

"Who else?"

"Kiba has a wound on his stomach, Neji is still in surgery - there was a hole drilled through his shoulder, Shino is suffering from chakra poisoning, and Choji is also still in surgery; I believe that to be thanks to use of the Akimichi triple threat" he regurgitated with a slight clinical attitude.

Naruto frowned to herself, soaking all this in.  
"Oh, and Shikamaru has a broken finger" he added, remembering the smallest wound of the ghastly collection.

She still didn't say anything, not until her eyes widened for a moment, seemingly remembering something.  
"Pass me my shuriken pouch," she instructed.

The beige pouch was handed to her and she dug around inside it until she pulled out a square vial of blue… it looked like jelly, with a piece of paper. She handed both of them to Itachi with a serious gaze on her face.

"Give those to Ino's dad; Inoro gave them to me before the Chunin exams. He said something about Ino making a suicide juice, and that I was supposed to use it on her according to those instructions if she ever used it. He seemed really adamant about it, so make sure he gets them," she instructed.

Itachi nodded once and silently left the room with the items. In his absence, Jiraiya brought up a different topic, a more serious one that concerned her demonic parasite.

"Orochimaru has joined a group of ninja called Akatsuki; I don't know what their goals are, but I know one thing and it's not good. They are searching for the tailed beasts, hunting them if you will. In three years, they'll be coming after you," he informed her with a serious note in his voice.

Naruto groaned. Fantastic; she was wild game now! What did she have, feathers or something? Was she one of those bloody pheasant that the civilians liked to hunt? Or maybe a rabbit? Why was something already promising to hamper her efforts to find Sasuke when she hadn't even started yet?! Even if Orochimaru was part of the hunting party, she was certain he wouldn't be willing to share Sasuke's location with her (this was assuming she got past the hunters of course).

She shook her head, ignoring the burning and dizziness it gave her, and slapped her hands to her cheeks. Her palms and cheeks stung far more than usual, but it woke her from he slow downward spiral. Of course she would get past them, it would take some serious training first, but she was never opposed to training and she had more than enough motivation for it!

"I want you to train me Ol' Froggie. I'll tear out those demon-hunters or whatever the are, and drag Sasuke's location from Orochimaru even if I have to use my teeth, then I'm certain Ino would love to practice her interrogation techniques on something other than mice for once. I'll bring Sasuke back and rip the ball off that bastard for messing with us, but I need help to do it," she stated seriously, focusing her eyes on the man.

He gave her a contemplative look before grinning.  
"That's the spirit!"

Behind her grin, she made a solemn vow to herself

'_I swear to the gods, I'll get you back home Sasuke; Orochimaru doesn't have a clue who he's just pissed off! Three years, that's all I need. After three years are up, I'm coning after you! I'll never stop looking for you… I swear on my life I'll bring you back!'_

It seemed to be a solid promise - her demonic parasite was none too enthralled with the idea of death after all. Her life was as long as he could keep healing her injuries, and she had a quiet confidence that would be for quite a while yet.

* * *

When Sasuke awoke, it was to a dimly lit room, and bed restraints.  
Otogakure.

He tried summoning up some chakra, not feeling any harm in trying at least, but was unsurprisingly disappointed. A glance around the room told him it was a medical room of some sort - plenty of drugs and odd pickled things. Urgh. There were several drips connected to his arm; he sorely wished to pull the damn things out but the restraints were stronger than he was.

He could tell form the weak lethargia in his body that he had been out of reality for a while, longer than just a few days but he couldn't very well guess by how much that was. He didn't particularly want to know; he wanted to get out, and failing that, he could still fell the suicide pellet lodged in his tooth - one carried by all ninjas in accordance with the law.

He'd really rather be dead than let himself turn into that snake bastard; Naruto probably wouldn't like it, Ino or Itachi too for that matter, but they would understand, he was certain Naruto at least would do the same thing if it was her in his position. She'd probably do it right in front of them, laughing at them as she wen-

All right, what were all these gloomy thoughts floating around in his head for? He was never this much of a pessimist, and Naruto didn't even translate the meaning of suicide to her brain. Like hell he was going to lay down and die! He was going to serve himself some barbecued snake, then throw it to the birds before heading back to Konoha with a beetle - it would be a nice present for Naruto to vent on for forcing her into he Kyuubi state, forcing her into fighting him…

The door opened and two silhouettes stood in the pale-lit doorway.

"So good to see you awake Sasuke; I was worried when you didn't turn up as I had planned, so I sent a little welcoming party to help you find your way. I hope they were too much trouble for you" Orochimaru slithered, a disgustingly patronisingly smug oily smile on his face.

Sasuke managed to find enough spit in his dry mouth to fire onto the man's cheek with a splat.  
"Shove it," he snarled at the man.

Instead of being offended, and giving the lethal reaction that would befall most others, the man laughed. It was a horrible laugh, filled with malicious humour, twisted to a degree far higher than Ibiki could ever hope to achieve. The coarse slithering sound echoed round the room for a few moments before he fixed his gaze on him.

Sasuke did not shudder; he was above it after all this now.

"Now, now, Sasuke, there's no need for that sort of behaviour. Did your mother never tell you it's rude to spit at people?"  
"You know fucking well she didn't; what do you want?" he spat at the man viciously.

"Your delay has caused a few setbacks for me; you'll be remaining here for a few years"

Sasuke took that to mean he had been forced to find another body.  
Good; that gave him some time to plot his escape. No doubt, there were measures to prevent it already in place.

"You'll keep up your training of course; I can't have my vessel in poor condition can I? And I do so hate having to catch up after moving bodies…"

The man was still talking? Urgh. Couldn't he just go away already? He was making him feel ill with just the slithery quality of his voice; he really was nothing but a giant snake from head to foot. That was sick, just plain wrong. His thoughts were considering biting down on that suicide pellet again…

"Please try to behave yourself during your stay; I would want to scar that pretty face of yours would I?"

Something slithered down the side of his cheek, and Sasuke very nearly wretched. The man was fucking touching him! That was sickening! He should have paid more attention. He aimed another glob of spit at the man, succeeding in catching his eye this time as he glared at the creepy ninja.

"Keep your hands off me you freak!" he hissed at his kidnapper.

The man obliged, chuckling as he left the room. Kabuto was left behind to check his health and his fake cheer was only slightly less unnerving and repulsive than his leader had been. At least, he hoped that's all they were… Kabuto seemed to have an unhealthy admiration for the man; no, he would not even think about that! That was a thousand times worse than anything Ibiki could come up with.

Maybe he could suggest it to Ino when he escaped; the ultimate torture technique.

Kabuto left the room - another ninja saying something about a boy from mist being ready for _'the procedure'_, much to his visible disgust - and he was left alone to contemplate the series of events that had lead to his capture. He worried about his team-mates; he had still been partially aware of his surroundings when Kabuto had arrived, and he'd been left with images of Ino's god-awful exhaustion and his unconscious girlfriend as a parting gift.

He was certain they would be taken care of though, and that gave him enough relief to think of his own escape. He wouldn't be able to do it on his own he knew even with the smidgen of data he had without inspecting his prison. He was certain he could find at least one like-minded individual to help him…

Orochimaru was his though; he would share with Naruto and Ino but no-one else.

'_One day… I'll be strong enough to kill you, you snake freak! And when I do, you'll be wishing you never set eyes on the Sharingan in the first place! Moreover, you'll wish you had never touched one hair on Naruto's head! I'll kill you, you fucking bastard, I kill you for messing with us like this, that's a promise!'_

* * *

When Ino awoke, she was aware of a splitting headache, one very sore and heavy-feeling left foot, and discovered moving her fingers sent loud stabs of pain through the bones of her hand. Apparently her Brain Boost Juice and her stubbornness had left some rather painful side effects. There were a couple of nasty sore spots on either side of her too.

The second thing she was aware of was the two people seated by her hospital (if the clinical smell was anything to go by) bedside; one was her father, who was giving her something between a worried and enraged frown, and the other was the slumbering form of Itachi.

"Ino Yamanaka, you have some serious explaining to do young lady!" her father growled in a dangerous tone, though the effect was somewhat nullified by the crushing hug he gave her, careful to avoid her damaged hands.

"Do you have any idea what state your mind was in? I spent thirteen hours trying to repair the damage before the rescue-gel your brother gave to Naruto reached my hands! Thirteen hours Ino! I doubt you'll be able to use any techniques for half a year! What on earth were you thinking when you made that tonic?!" he growled calmly, trying not to intimidate her too much; she had just woken up.

"Well, its not finished yet! Besides, it's only supposed to be a last resort thing…" she protested lamely.  
"And that healing vial?" he added equally displeased.

"I didn't have a choice; that bone freak drilled right through me! I had to do something or… I was falling behind! I had to catch up with them!" she didn't notice her voice rising in pitch.

Her father sighed in resignation.  
"I know Ino, and I understand; I've just been worried sick, you've been out for three months!"  
"T-Three Months?!" Ino gawped.

"And I'm not the only one; you'd think his siblings would be more than enough for him to worry about, but he's been visiting you almost everyday" her father grumbled somewhat petulantly, waving towards Itachi's still-armour clad form in one of the other chairs.

Ino blushed, feeling a little guilty for blowing up the way she had; she had worried Itachi that much? (Her fathers mention of his siblings didn't surprise her, she had seen his name as a witness on Naruto's birth certificate) That was stupid! He had more than enough to be worrying about, Sasuke and Naruto for instance!

"I'm sorry dad" she apologized in a calmer tone.

"Just focus on getting better, and please don't go digging around in the records room again; poor Mrs Haruno was rather confused after that little spell you put on her for some time" he grinned.

Ino blushed.

* * *

"Ino! You shouldn't be walking around just yet!" Itachi protested, following the hobbling blonde girl up the steps to the Hokage's office with a frown on his face.

"I just want to talk to Tsunade-Sama for a few minuets Itachi! I'll go right back once I've finished, god you can carry make it'll make you feel better!" Ino replied, pulling herself forward on her crutches.

_'Not to mention how much it'd make me feel better…'_

Itachi sighed and followed her up the stairs, offering assistance if needed. He could easily do as the girl had just stated and take her back by force, but she was unusually adamant on seeing their new leader, even for Ino. Ever since she'd learned of Naruto's departure with Jiraiya she'd been slightly off, and he suspected her insistence was linked to that. He was also certain any interference would come back to haunt him.

His worries were however proven to be well justified when Ino's foot slipped moment before reaching the landing. He quickly reached out and pulled her into him, the force sending him crashing into the wall with some force; he didn't mind really; better an achy shoulder than Ino sustaining more injuries than required.

"T-Thanks!" Ino stammered, her mind turning to something reminiscent of jelly and scarlet staining her cheeks as she regained her crutches; she made her way up the final few steps with a burning face, doing her best not to look her companion in the eye.

"Ino? Is that you? You look… What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.

Ino looked up to see the original third member of team 10 standing in front of Shizune's desk with an armload of scrolls and documents. Sakura had shorter hair now, and the symbol of the cipher department was stitched onto the black sweater she wore with a beige apron and her green-black shorts.

"Sakura? I haven't seen you since graduation! What happened? Inoro got put with Choji and Shikamaru all of a sudden!" Ino replied greeting her old classmate with an awkward hug, squashing the scrolls her old friend was carrying.

"We were given a C-Rank; it went up to B though, and I got on the wrong side of a Kusa ninja. He stuffed some sort of poison in me, and I can't do much more than a basic transformation now. I'm in rehab now that Tsunade-Sama has returned, but I'll never be able to perform the big stuff; there was a code that I deciphered on the mission though, and the third Hokage assigned me to the cipher department before the invasion," Sakura explained, gesturing to the logo on her back with one thumb.

"He said letting my brain laze around would be a waste and assigned me to one of the heads; she's really nice, but she's a bit of a ditz sometimes" Sakura smiled sheepishly, rebalancing her books.

"I… heard what happed to Sasuke Ino, and I really hope things turn out for you guys; I'll see you later! I have to take these up to Shiho-Sempai! Bye Piggy!" Sakura hurried the last part of here sentence, adding the affectingly derogatory nickname for old-times sake before turning away and dashing down the hall.

"You too billboard-head!" Ino called after her, grinning; it was good to see the girl after so long, and to know that she was doing okay. She had been worried about her for a while. Though not as close as she and Naruto were, she had been a good friend since they were younger. It had been the announcement of Naruto's Sharingan that had driven it from her mind.

Focusing back on her task, she hobbled towards the door; Shizune was not at her desk, so Ino surmised she was either in Tsunade-Sama's office, ore off doing business elsewhere. She raised a hand to knock on the door of the village-leader's office, only for it to be stopped by Itachi's, who used his other hand to knock instead.

"Your hands are still healing Ino; you shouldn't damage them any more than you already have by messing with those crutches" he stated plainly, clearing her confusion.

After a yell of permission to enter the room, Itachi opened the door for her, and she hobbled in to the centre of the room. The blonde woman behind the desk frowned, but had a curious look in her eyes. A brief glance to Itachi was all other action she showed before speaking:

"You are supposed to be in the hospital aren't you? What was so urgent you had to sneak out to see me?" she asked, not harshly, but not exactly approving either.  
"I wanted to ask you a favour," Ino explained, shifting her balance on the crutches.

"Oh? And what might that be?" the woman asked, curiosity aroused.

Ino took a deep breath, before fixing her pale cobalt blue eyes on the Hokage's hazel ones.

"Please take me on as your apprentice Tsunade-Sama!" she said loudly, gaze not leaving that of her Hokage's; she could feel Itachi's surprise somehow, and forced herself not to laugh at his expense.

Tsunade considered it; she had not had any intentions of taking on another pupil after Shizune, but Ino had caught her eye early on. When she had come in search of her with Jiraiya (and Sasuke), her description of Naruto's' condition had contained basic medical terminology. Normally that wouldn't t be so impressive, but basic terminology between ninja medics and civilian medics were very different in level. Thanks to her father - another of her old students - she had understood them too.

When her father had taken Ino back to the hospital, she had been appalled by the damage she had taken - the hard coating on her foot had caused more than enough damage, it had been all that kept her standing with the state her bones were in - but also very intrigued. Her fists for example: they were in the same condition her own had been when she first began developing her strength-based techniques.

Even at the basic level it was, using as much in battle as she had been no small feat. She had good chakra control - not the best, but good enough. That tonic of hers was equally interesting; it was far from perfect, as her current state stood testament to, but they were far more than what she would have expected of a Genin. She was shadowed by the raw power of her team-mates, but she had her own spark, and she had more than enough drive. According to Inochi, her injuries had been temporarily healed by the time she arrived at the hospital, and had originally been much worse. She had still pressed on though; she was a diamond in the rough almost.

With patience (and it would be needed; she was exactly as Inochi had been at the same age, and he had shown little to no patience), she could become a formidable ninja; and that was not including the interrogation and mental techniques she would learn from her family archives.

She had a good look in her eyes, one that denied all possibility of loosing or backing-down, and that was something she would need if she were going to endure her training.

"Ino Yamanaka… you are stubborn to the point of idiocy sometimes, but that same stubbornness is what has you standing in this office. You have basic knowledge of medical techniques, and your experimenting - despite unfinished and disastrous to you health - shows boundless potential. Your chakra control is mediocre, but you seem to have grasped the concept behind my strength-based attacks and delivered results with it with only the bare minimum of understanding" Tsunade stated, testing the girl.

She twitched at the first statement but the determination did not leave her eyes.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; you have spunk. That is something you are going to need if you want to keep up with my lessons. Come by again once you're released from the hospital, and we'll begin" she finished smiling at the girl.

The delight that crossed her face took the form of a grin not too unlike Naruto's, or her fathers.

"Yes Ma'am!" she grinned, raining her hand in salute.  
"Then get yourself back the hospital then young lady; I think Itachi's going to collapse from the worry" Tsunade ordered, giving the black-haired Anbu an unsettlingly knowing gaze.

Itachi spluttered indignantly and Ino finally released the laugh she had been holding in.

* * *

Deidara felt their chakra before he caught so much of a glimpse of the Akatsuki; to say they had a large amount would be an understatement. Kisame Hoshigaki was instantly recognisable (how could he not? The man was blue! How many people were freaking blue?), but the others not so much.

The orange man with spiky hair was rattling on about the tailed beasts, and Deidara had difficulty trying to look irritated; they were playing right into his hands, but he couldn't let himself seem too eager to join.

"What makes you think I give a crap about the tailed beasts, yeah?" he growled, not giving much of a glance from his clay sculpture.

"What makes you think you have a choice in joining us? Seriously, this brat is my new partner? Can't I just stick with Orochimaru?" a large hulking man, crouched low over the floor complained, glaring at Deidara.

Deidara knew that the Akatsuki wasn't going to be all fun and games, but he didn't like the sound of that one word; they wanted him to partner up with that creep?  
This was going to be a long, irritating mission.

* * *

_**Wowza, I can't believe I've finished Part I! I finished something! Well, halfway at least - Part I is done! Huzzah! I feel like celebratory Pocky, but I don't want to go outside; there snow outside, and I don't think the village shop sell Mikado anymore (that what us Brits call Pocky, we only get the chocolate flavour though). If I go, the snow will depress me more than it already is (I'm on the verge of tears here!) and if there is no Pocky… Someone will have to do a damn alcohol intervention.**_

_**Finally got around to getting Sakura back in! I never meant to leave her out for so long, but plot took up space! I've already gone over my seven-page typing limit by one and a half pages, but since this is the last chapter I'm letting it slide. Got some more ItaIno in too; its not much, but it's a bit of development for them.**_

_**I may decide to post the flashback chapters and Part II as separate stories, so keep an eye out, though I might not. Keep an eye out just in case anyway. The shit will seriously begin to hit the fan! Speaking of shit and fans, is it just me, or are the only girls in Naruto who seem to be able to look after themselves Temari and… no, wait it's just Temari. Come on, even Tsunade got rescued, sure she's and old lady and had no chakra but she's the freaking Hokage! **_

_**Let us go over the list: Hinata tried to save Naruto, but bot herself squished py the stick of pain. Naruto saves the day by going Raawwar!Kyuubimode! Karin has tried to be useful, and that chakra thing is undeniably usefull, but what, she gets blasted by Amaterasu and then Chidori? Sasuke was all statstabDie! So Sakura was the one to save her!  
Even the Mizukage has her own problems; she let herself be completley dissed during the hokage meeting, despite that awesome melty-steam stuff later on.**_

_**Sakura… oh god I pity her. I really do. Every time she tries to be useful, it backfires and she ends up rescued - twice in the span of what three chapteres? And I'm not even including genin and previous moments here! The only woman I've seen who has never been rescued in a shape or form (that plays a major role of some kind) is Temari, and she isn't even from Konoha! She's a minor major charecter! Even Tenten has had her butt saved by Neji once - in the water bubbles - and she dosent even have a family name!**_

_**That's messed up. Theres no other way to say it; freaking messed up.**_

_**Thoughts appreciated, and hope you liked part I!  
Onward m'harties! Onward to Flashbacks! Arr!**_

_**Nat.  
**__**xxx**_


	13. A little Info

The Flashback chapters about Mikoto and Minato are up.  
The first chapter of the sequel will be up soon too...

Once I decide on a name and summary for it.

Just an FYI!  
Nat.  
xxx


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